There are conglomerates and then there are conglomerates. I cannot imagine what it must be like to cover Dover (NYSE:DOV), a company with 50 different companies under its umbrella, making everything from food service equipment to ATMs to microphones to the nozzles on gas pumps. But what I can imagine is just how this company is sailing on the tailwinds of strength in its energy, industrial, and electronics markets.

Total revenue was up 22% for the first quarter, and organic growth was reported at more than 16%. That far and away rings the bell this quarter on the other conglomerates I've covered, like Eaton (NYSE:ETN), Danaher (NYSE:DHR), and Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW). And it wasn't just strong revenue either; gross margins expanded a little, operating margins expanded even more, and earnings from continuing operations were up 40%.

Now, I'd like to review all of Dover's businesses here .. Actually, that's a lie. That would take forever, so I'm just going to do a quick, high-level flyby. Every segment grew top and bottom, with the diversified unit doing the worst and the electronics unit doing the best. In the case of electronics, the ATM business was still weak (as we've seen from Diebold (NYSE:DBD) many times), but the components business was on fire. Likewise in technologies, where the test-and-assembly business is doing very well indeed.

Behind the curtain, things are somewhat mixed. I genuinely respect that Dover's management sets what appear to be quite challenging targets for its businesses. On the other hand, the return on invested capital here looks a bit low -- below the 14% or so that seems to be common amongst industrial conglomerates like United Technologies (NYSE:UTX), Danaher, Emerson (NYSE:EMR), and so on, and certainly behind the excellent numbers at Illinois Tool. That said, the return still meets my double-digit hurdle rate and is improving.

Far and away my biggest concern here is the cyclical nature of so many of these businesses. Right now, many of them (ranging from materials handling to energy equipment to semiconductors) are in the good part of their cycles. And while the broad base of business should help cushion the fall when things reverse, who knows exactly what will happen.

While returns on capital and a somewhat sizable move in the stock mute some of my enthusiasm, Dover's shares look very interesting to me. I'm going to want to dig into the numbers and the story at a deeper level, but these shares may yet still be appealing enough to buy.

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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).