When evaluating the merits of tech stocks, we like to focus on the exposure investors receive to any particular theme. This is often measured by revenues that can be attributed to the theme as a percentage of total revenues. For example, we looked at how Teradyne has been slowly expanding into industrial robotics. Over time, it’s expected that a fast-growing segment like robotics becomes a meaningful part of the company’s total revenues. However, concentrated revenue streams are more prone to volatility. Think about a company like Nvidia which sells – among other things – hardware for bitcoin mining. When the cryptocurrency music suddenly stopped, Nvidia was able to offset the impact because they have a diversified set of business segments.
Many dividend growth companies are able to consistently grow their dividends in the double digits because they manage a portfolio of businesses which are aggregated into segments. Investors can then assess segment-level performance and monitor the company’s success across both functional and geographic segments. Medical device company Stryker is a good example of a company that’s able to consistently grow their dividend by managing a high-growth collection of businesses. Today, we’re