Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, data-storage specialist EMC (NYSE: EMC) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at EMC's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

EMC facts

   
Headquarters (Founded) Hopkinton, Mass. (1979)
Market Cap $54.7 billion
Industry Computer storage and peripherals
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $17.73 billion
Management Chairman/CEO Joseph Tucci
CFO David Goulden
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 10.1%
Cash/Debt $5.6 billion / $3.5 billion
Competitors Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ)
IBM (NYSE: IBM)
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 96% of the 3,522 members who have rated EMC believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include gkvber and All-Star TSIF, who is ranked in the top 0.1% of our community.

Late last month, gkvber tapped EMC as a great way to get into the cloud:

EMC has done well by aligning most of its business units to a consistent message around the big data/cloud category that it's been actively defining. This keeps it ahead of the more storage-focused competition. Credit goes to good and relatively new marketing leadership, timely acquisitions and cash to make it all possible.

Over the next five years, in fact, EMC is expected to grow its bottom line at a solid rate of 15.6% annually. That's faster than gorilla rivals HP (9.2%), IBM (11.2%), and Microsoft (10.3%).

CAPS All-Star TSIF elaborates on the EMC bull case:

The variety of its products, despite its recent hit to its RSA security division continues to balance nicely. [Its 80% ownership] of VMware broke it from the channel two years ago, but it's not getting enough credit for that piece again. I don't expect them to sell off any divisions, especially VMWare, and I don't see them as a buyout target now that they have grown to their current size. Margins, cash flow, and cash on hand are also solid. I also don't expect a dividend, but that could be a play someday if they don't find other acquisitions.

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