MSI
Defense? More like the next growth engine
Motorola Solutions is basically telling investors: don’t sleep on the defense side of the house. Speaking at the Truist Technology Symposium, COO Jack Molloy said government spending on border security, defense modernization, and advanced communications still has “a lot of room to run.”
That’s not just corporate frosting on top of a press conference. The company is actively scaling its newly acquired Silvus Technologies and recently closed its D-Fend Solutions deal, which pushes Motorola deeper into counter-drone tech. It expects Silvus alone to generate about $850 million in fiscal 2026 revenue, while production is already being expanded in Los Angeles and Culver City, with Salt Lake City set to join the party in Q1 2027.
The public-safety business is still humming
This isn’t a one-trick defense story, either. Motorola said demand remains healthy across its core public-safety operations, with record second-quarter orders and double-digit order growth in the first half. Management also laid out some pretty chunky growth targets:
- mission-critical networks: 10% to 11%
- video security: about 11%
- command center software: 15%
On top of that, the D-Series infrastructure upgrade could turn into a five- to seven-year refresh cycle for public-safety networks. Translation: this isn’t a quick sugar rush; it’s a longer renovation project.
Buybacks, contracts, and a little extra confidence
Motorola also handed shareholders a little extra candy, boosting its buyback authorization by another $2 billion to $20 billion total, with no expiration date. As if that wasn’t enough, Louisiana tapped the company for a $139 million, 10-year contract covering six state agencies and all 64 parishes.
Big picture: Motorola is trying to prove it’s not just a radio-and-network stalwart. It wants to be a defense, public safety, and counter-drone platform with multiple long-tail growth levers — and so far, investors have reason to keep an eye on it.