New Products & Customers Fuel Growth

Article Excerpt

XEROX CORP. $15 (New York symbol XRX; Conservative Growth Portfolio; Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 917.6 million; Market cap: $13.8 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) makes copiers, printers, scanners and fax machines. The company also supplies consulting and maintenance services. Overseas markets account for roughly half of its revenue and profits. Xerox has a long history of developing innovative products. It currently spends around 5% of its revenue of $18 a share on research, which it must expense immediately. However, a steady stream of new products have made Xerox the leading supplier of highend publishing equipment in the United States and Europe. The company is focusing its research on color printing technologies, which generate higher profits than traditional black-and-white systems. For example, it recently opened a new $24 million solid ink plant in Oregon. Unlike traditional liquid inks, printing with solid inks produces less waste and requires less electricity. Xerox is also using acquisitions to expand. In May 2007, it paid $1.5 billion…