A Lenovo spokesperson won’t talk about rumors that the world’s No. 1 PC maker is negotiating some kind of deal for Sony’s Vaio computer group, but investors are. Lenovo shares plunged 16 percent Tuesday in the wake of the Sony story and the $2.9 billion Google Motorola Mobility deal.

Plus, analysts are weighing in – and they don’t like what they are seeing. Reports Bloomberg from Hong Kong where Lenovo shares are traded:

“The world’s biggest maker of personal computers was cut at UBS AG, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies Group LLC, JI-Asia Research Ltd. and Kim Eng Securities Ltd., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.”

Morgan Stanley warned: “We expect a negative impact on Lenovo’s net profit – at least in the near term – from the acquisition of Motorola Mobility. It will take some time before Lenovo turns the business profitable.”

Analyst firm Jefferies & Co. pointed out that  Motorola Mobility’s $915 million pre-tax loss in 2013 is nearly as much as Lenovo’s annual pre-tax income, added Reuters.

In other words, Lenovo could be under financial stress after wiping out a lot of its cash reserves in the Google and $2.3 billion IBM deal.

Reuters noted that Lenovo shares have given up more than $3 billion in value since the Google deal was announced.

Just two weeks ago, Lenovo shares were trading at the highest level in more than a decade.

Perhaps another factor in driving down shares is the fact Lenovo is giving up ownership stakes to IBM and Google as part of each deal.

WRALTechWire reached out to Ray Gorman, who heads up media relations for Lenovo, to ask if the company could shed any light on reports out of Japan saying it was talking some sort of deal with Sony for the Sony Vaio computer business.

“No comment on rumors,” Gorman replied via email.

Sony took the rare step Saturday to issue a formal denial of a story linking Lenovo to a Vaio joint venture.

Lenovo already worked with Japan-based NEC to form the largest PC operation in that country, so why not Sony?

But after the $5.2 billion spending spree that could mean Lenovo absorbs IBM’s x86 server business ($2.3 billion; 7,500 workers including 2,000 in RTP) and aother nearly 4,000 workers from Motorol Mobility as part of the buy from Google, maybe the company once called Legend has had enough.

The weekend did bring some clarity to what Lenovo is actually NOT getting as part of the Motorola deal.

Asked if Lenovo would take over Google’s Android tablets, Gorman said simply: “No. Deal is for smartphones only.”

So, Gorman explained further, what Lenovo gets, pending regulatory approval, from Google is three phone brands:

  • Moto G
  • Moto X
  • DROID as sold via Verizon

No “Skunkworks” for Lenovo

One piece of Motorola Mobility that Lenovo’s isn’t getting is a secretive group labeled Google’s “skunkworks” known as the Advanced Technology & Project Group.

.As Slash Gear noted, this “experimental team” was “working on projects like a smartphone which can be upgraded in pieces, and digital pills that can wirelessly deliver health information after being swallowed.”

The group is led by former DARPA executive Regina Dugan. {DARPA is the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency.]

Too bad Lenovo didn’t get that group. Imagine how much more fun would take place in Lenovo’s labs!

[LENOVO ARCHIVE: Check out eight years of Lenovo stories as reported in WRALTechWire.]