Motoring Motorola

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After watching tech bellwethers such as Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) deliver the goods on the earnings front but fall short in revenues, it seems as though it's Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to the odd rescue.

Winning the war on the top and bottom lines, the company saw its sales soar by 41% during its $8.7 billion second quarter, while pre-tax profits grew sixfold before a series of one-time charges.

It was a solid showing, but whether or not you think Motorola is back in the market's good graces depends on your time frame. The shares have doubled over the past year, yet the stock trades at a quarter of where it was when it peaked four years ago.

The company can use a little more respect. Its spinoff of Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL) last week was a relative flop, as the chip stock's debut was priced at the low end of its projected price range and was denied much of an opening day pop.

The company's recent performance certainly commands attention. The fact that its cellular handset business surged by 67% during the period bodes well for Motorola, as it is the company's biggest financial contributor, but it's also welcome news for rivals such as Nokia (NYSE: NOK), unless the major headway is coming at the expense of its peers' market share.

Motorola is expecting the good times to continue in the current quarter; it sees sales growing by at least 25% over last year's showing while earnings will more than triple. Is that Motorola ringing? I hear respect calling.

After 14 straight quarters of positive cash flow, do you think that Motorola should be trading higher than it is right now? Is the wireless market back for keeps? All this and more -- in the Motorola discussion board. Only on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz thinks its cool that Motorola started out making car radios -- but didn't invent talk radio. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story.