Xerox Copying New Growth Plan

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Many of us remember trailing our fathers to work every now and then. The excitement of being in New York City always was snuffed out about 10 minutes after we sat in my dad's office. The boredom that set in would inevitably lead me to the supply room, where I would put the Xerox (NYSE: XRX) copier to the test. About nine handprints and a few Tom Seaver baseball cards later, I was back in my dad's office, showing him the fruits of my hard work (of course, he shook his head in disbelief).

Companies such as Xerox and Kodak (NYSE: EK) were synonymous with copies and photo prints for years. When a company's products become that mainstream and popular, it becomes difficult to wrestle them out of the industry's top spot. However, over time, technology has a way of making companies re-evaluate their strategic direction (such as Kodak's decision to concentrate more on digital technology).

The interesting thing about Xerox is that it has worked really hard to stay up with the times. In fact, the company disclosed that "about two-thirds of all equipment sales in the second quarter came from products launched in the past two years." This innovative trend pushed second-quarter earnings of $0.21 a share well ahead of the consensus estimate of $0.17 per share and last year's $0.09 figure. Xerox also bumped up its expectations for 2004 to $0.80 to $0.84 per share from the previous forecast of $0.67 to $0.72 a share.

Xerox has responded to the challenge of competitors such as Canon (NYSE: CAJ), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), and Ricoh, which are making the shift to color products. With color products making up about 25% of Xerox's revenues, it is plain to see that the product line has become the key driver in the company's growth strategy. The company is also leading the transition from offset printers to digital technology through the recent introduction of seven digital systems.

The Xerox management team, led by CEO Anne Mulcahy, has done an excellent job of copying and executing the company's new growth strategy. This is one company that is not content to rest on its past success, as it continues to reinvest its cash in new product development. Shares are attractive at 16 times the consensus estimate of $0.82 per share when compared with the 25%-plus growth the company will produce this year.

Copy your thoughts onto the screen at the Xerox discussion board.

Fool contributor Phil Wohl spent more than 12 years on Wall Street and now concentrates his writing on more fictional characters. He has no stake in any firm mentioned above.