It could be the last quarterly earnings report from Motorola as a stand-alone company. In August, Google announced plans to acquire the handset maker in a controversial deal that some observers say could drive away Android phone makers that fear Motorola will have an unfair advantage under Google's wing.

Revenue was up 11 percent over the third quarter last year, Motorola said. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting slightly better revenue of $3.37 billion.

The loss was a bit better than the third quarter last year, when Motorola recorded a net loss of $34 million.

Revenue in mobile devices, which make up the bulk of the company's business, was $2.4 billion, up 20 percent over the same time last year. The operating loss for the division was $41 million, slightly better than the loss of $43 million last year.

Motorola shipped 11.6 million devices, including 4.8 million smartphones. Its tablet business continues to lag, however. Motorola shipped just 100,000 Xoom tablets, despite finally starting to sell the 4G version of the tablet. Motorola has struggled to start delivering phones and tablets that can run on the higher-speed 4G networks.