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To grow its offerings, 3M has been pursuing big acquisitions, deploying some of the $6.5 billion in cash and investments that the firm has on tap. Growth by acquisition is a relatively new approach for 3M, but it shows significant promise for boosting the firm's top line numbers, particularly on this end of the business cycle. Historically, innovation has been one of the biggest keys to 3M's success. More recently, it's also managed to reinvent and modify its most popular products, squeezing extra life out of offerings that have ample competition creeping in.
Overseas growth remains a big opportunity for 3M, even though the firm already has exposure abroad. The firm already enjoys deeper margins in emerging markets, and expanding its offerings in regions where it already has distribution channels makes a lot of sense. Financially, 3M's balance sheet is net cash positive, with ample liquidity. That should help pave the way for a dividend hike in the next quarter.
Right now, 3M pays out a 59-cent quarterly dividend for a 2.68% yield...
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Apparel firm The Gap (GPS) reported good numbers and an improved outlook in last night's Q3 earnings call, spurring a boost in buying activity this morning. Gap owns a handful of brands in addition to its self-named store chain -- Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta are just a few of them. All told, Gap owns more than 3,000 stores in North America, Europe and Japan. And the firm franchises another 200 locations in emerging markets like the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Even though the apparel business is supremely competitive, Gap has done a good job of staying one step ahead of the game. The firm's brand is strong, and it's stayed ahead of consumer fashion tastes by catering to a less volatile demographic: young-to-middle aged professionals whose preferences haven't changed much in the last decade or so. While other brands do step into more fickle consumer groups (like Old Navy's focus on a much younger crowd), the firm approached those markets cautiously, the same way it's handling international growth.