These days posting any kind of profit is a reason to celebrate--particularly if you work for Motorola. The company announced its quarterly earnings today, and it sold more phones than analysts expected, retaining its number-three spot in the global phone market just ahead of LG.

Motorola moved 28.1 million handsets for the quarter, versus. the 26.6 million that analysts were projecting, pulling in a $4 million profit. For the prior quarter, the company posted a $28 million loss.

The news of the handset manufacturer's less-terrible-than-expected quarter caused its shares to jump an impressive 13 percent.

Still, despite the good news, analysts still remain cautiously optimistic at best about the company's future. "It still has a mountain to climb," CCS Insight's Geoff Blaber told Reuters. Its product portfolio is still not competitive enough, and sustaining its position in the North American market in the second half of 2008 may prove challenging.

The company still seems intent on spinning off the handset portion of its business.