Big purchase spurred Xerox’s earnings

Article Excerpt

XEROX CORP. $11 (New York symbol XRX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $15.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.xerox.com) makes copiers, laser printers and other publishing equipment. In February 2010, Xerox paid $6.5 billion for Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS), which sells computer-outsourcing services. Xerox now gets over 60% of its revenue from long-term service contracts and recurring payments for supplies. That cuts its risk. Thanks to ACS, Xerox’s earnings rose 111.4% in 2010, to $1.3 billion from $613 million in 2009. Earnings per share rose 34.3%, to $0.94 from $0.70, on more shares outstanding. These figures exclude unusual items, such as merger costs. If you assume Xerox bought ACS at the start of 2009, its revenue would have risen 2.6% in 2010, to $21.6 billion from $21.1 billion. Xerox is a buy. buy…