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If You Invested $1000 in Zebra Technologies 10 Years Ago, This Is How Much You'd Have Now

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For most investors, how much a stock's price changes over time is important. This factor can impact your investment portfolio as well as help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

Another factor that can influence investors is FOMO, or the fear of missing out, especially with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Zebra Technologies (ZBRA - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to ZBRA for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Zebra Technologies' Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Zebra Technologies' main business drivers.

Headquartered in Lincolnshire, IL, Zebra Technologies Corporation is the leading provider of enterprise asset intelligence solutions in the automatic identification and data capture solutions industry throughout the world. The company has a diversified portfolio of product and solutions that includes cloud-based subscriptions and a full range of services like maintenance, repair, technical support, managed and professional services. The products and solutions, which are sold across 180 countries, are designed to help its customers achieve enhanced operational efficiency, increased asset utilization, optimized workflows and improved regulatory compliance. As of 2020-end, it had around 8,800 employees globally.

Key end markets served by the company include manufacturing, retail and e-commerce, transportation and logistics, public sector, healthcare, and other industries throughout the world. Products are sold directly through sales representatives and an extensive network of channel partners.

The company reports operations under two reporting segments — Asset Intelligence & Tracking (“AIT”) and Enterprise Visibility & Mobility (“EVM”). The segments are briefly discussed below:

AIT (32.3% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2021): This segment specializes in barcode printing and asset tracking technologies. Its key product lines comprise barcode and card printers, services, supplies, and location solutions. These products are sold primarily in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”), Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

EVM (67.7%): This segment specializes in automatic information and data capture solutions. Its key product lines comprise mobile computing, data capture, services, RFID, retail as well as software-based workflow optimization solutions. These products are sold primarily in North America, EMEA, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific.

It’s worth noting that in the first quarter of 2021, the company shifted its retail solutions offering from the Asset Intelligence & Tracking segment into the Enterprise Visibility & Mobility segment.

Bottom Line

Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio requires research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Zebra Technologies ten years ago, you're likely feeling pretty good about your investment today.

A $1000 investment made in June 2011 would be worth $12,735.68, or a gain of 1,173.57%, as of June 29, 2021, according to our calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

In comparison, the S&P 500 gained 230.89% and the price of gold went up 13.18% over the same time frame.

Going forward, analysts are expecting more upside for ZBRA.

Zebra stands to benefit from solid demand environment, coupled with strong order backlog and healthy channel inventory levels. Also, acquisitions made by the company over time are likely to be advantageous. For 2021, it anticipates revenue growth of 18-22% year over year, higher than 10-14% guided earlier. Moreover, healthy cash flow enables it to invest in organic growth, execute acquisitions and repurchase shares. In the past six months, its shares have outperformed the industry. However, the stock is overvalued compared with the industry. The company anticipates supply chain challenges to persist in the quarters ahead. Also, escalating costs and expenses pose a major concern. High debt levels can increase the company’s financial obligations. In addition, risks related to international exposure might affect its performance.

The stock has jumped 6.05% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 4 higher, for fiscal 2021; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.

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