Motorola’s sweet government contracts are at risk: investor

Andrew Left has found yet another company whose stock he thinks will get walloped by President Trump.

The activist short-seller behind Citron Research attacked Motorola Solutions in a report Tuesday, saying that the company’s profits are mostly derived from selling overpriced handsets to emergency first responders in the US.

Citing Trump’s campaign promise to go out to bid “virtually every facet of our government,” Left believes that the days of Motorola’s near-monopoly status with US first responders may be coming to an end.

As evidence of Motorola’s price-gouging in the US, Left said that Motorola’s prices in the European Union are a fifth of what they are domestically.

With a mix of government scrutiny and increased competition, Motorola’s profits could fall by nearly 40 percent and its stock, which had been trading around $82, could fall to $45, Left said.

Motorola refuted Left’s claims in a statement Tuesday.

“Citron has made numerous false and misleading statements and we strongly disagree with the assertions made by this short-seller,” Motorola said.

The company maintained that it has been successful in getting government contracts in a “robust competitive bidding processes” because its products are the “most reliable.”

Shares fell more than 5 percent in intraday trading, touching below $77.

Left recently attacked pharmacy-benefit manager Express Scripts and aerospace company Transdigm as other firms that could be hurt by Trump’s policies.