Xerox – making work, work for more than a century

Xerox is arguably one of the most well-known American corporations globally. Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, the company sells print and digital documents products and services to 145 countries worldwide. Xerox is rated number 1 in managed print services and has over 10k active patents for innovation. It employs 18,700+ employees in nearly 60 countries and in 2023, saw a revenue of $6,90 billion.

History of Xerox

118 years of innovative history

The company’s history begins in 1906 at which time the M.H. Kuhn Company became the Haloid Company to pursue the business of manufacturing and selling photographic paper. In the same year, Chester Calson, the man whose discovery of xerographic printing would drive Xerox’s global expansion and transform an industry, was born. In 1935, Haloid acquired the Rectigraph Company, a photocopying machine manufacturer that used Haloid paper.

In order to raise funds for this acquisition, Haloid issued its first offering of public stock on 16 September 1936. In 1942, Chester Carlson was granted U.S. patent No. 2,297,691 for electrophotography, later known as xerography, transforming document imaging. In 1948, xerography was publicly introduced at the Optical Society of America Annual Meeting, and “Xerox” was trademarked for future use.

In 1956, the Haloid Company and The Rank Organisation plc (UK) created Rank Xerox to produce and market Xerox equipment in Europe, Africa, and Asia. In 1958, The Haloid Company renamed itself Haloid Xerox Inc to emphasise its shift towards commercial xerography. By 1961, Haloid Xerox Inc changed its name to Xerox Corporation due to its focus on xerographic products and services.

The company’s common stock (XRX) was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on 11 July of the same year, with 7,700 shares changing hands that day and a closing price of $104 per share. In 1962, Rank Xerox and Japanese firm Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd established Fuji Xerox Co. Ltd to distribute Rank Xerox products, later expanding to R&D. In 1965, Rank Xerox opened a manufacturing facility in Venray, Netherlands.

The 1970s saw notable development for the company, with the opening of Xerox Parc research centre, aiming to create “The Office of the Future” with world class experts. The technology for transferring images using electrostatic charge and toner, enabling two-sided copying, was also introduced.

Xerox Parc also developed Smalltalk, the first object-oriented programming language, which revolutioned software development by allowing programme improvement without rewrites. The centre also prototyped Alto, the first personal computer with a WYSIWYG editor, mouse, GUI, and bit-mapped display.

The 1980s and 1990s saw further growth, particularly by way of product development and outstanding achievement. This included digital marking engines, desktop and workgroup printers, and digital copiers. Notably, in 1993 the company announced a partnership with Microsoft to combine Microsoft At Work architecture with advanced Xerox document imaging technologies in a new family of fax machines, printers and digital copiers.

Extensive focus was also placed on environmental initiatives and programs, pertinent to the promotion of energy-efficient products, and to help customers achieve waste-free goals.

In 2000, Xerox was ranked 87th on the Fortune 500 and 5th in the Computers & Office Equipment category. Forbes placed Xerox 64th on its ‘Super 100’ list, based on 1999 sales, profits, assets, and market value. Moving onwards, Xerox has been the recipient of several awards for diversity, equality business and technological innovation, sustainability, and many more.

Xerox today

Xerox focuses on its document technology and document outsourcing business. It traded on the NYSE from 1961 to 2021, and the Nasdaq since 1921. The company has a market capitalisation of $1.23 billion and revenue of $6.5 billion.

Q2 2024 financial summary

In Q2 2024, Xerox reported revenue of $1.58 billion, a 10% decline (9.6% in constant currency). GAAP net income rose to $18 million ($0.11 per share), an increase of $79 million ($0.52 per share) year-over-year. Adjusted net income was $41 million ($0.29 per share), a decrease of $31 million ($0.15 per share). The adjusted operating margin dropped 70 basis points to 5.4%.

Operating cash flow increased by $28 million to $123 million, and free cash flow grew by $27 million to $115 million. Xerox lowered its 2024 revenue guidance to a range of -5% to -6% in constant currency due to strategic actions, with adjusted operating income guidance at least 6.5% and free cash flow guidance at least $550 million. The company also maintained its target for a $300 million improvement in adjusted operating income over 2023 levels by the end of 2026.

On 1 August 2024, Xerox announced “that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share on Xerox Holdings Corporation Common Stock. The dividend is payable on October 31, 2024 to shareholders of record on September 30, 2024. The board also declared a quarterly dividend of $20.00 per share on the outstanding Xerox Holdings Series A Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock. The dividend is payable on October 1, 2024 to shareholders of record on September 15, 2024.” [Yahoo Finance]

In May 2024, Xerox also announced the election of 6 new members to the company’s Board of Directors at its annual shareholders meeting. Xerox further stated that the “new members bring deep technology, product, and operations expertise to further Xerox’s Reinvention objective of becoming a services-led, software-enabled organization positioned for sustainable, long-term growth.”

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