Sales for 2009 declined for only the second time in Zebra’s history. Through aggressive cost containment and the strength of our business model, the company maintained high profitability in a historically challenging year. *The operating income for 2008 exclude $157,600 in asset impairment charges.
Earnings for 2009 were affected by the decline in sales and gross profit margin resulting from the worldwide economic recession.
Zebra’s stock price appreciated approximately 40 percent in 2009.
A consistent generator of cash, Zebra had free cash flow of $80 million in 2009, or approximately 10 percent of sales.
From 2005-2009, Zebra deployed $474 million to buy back 16.2 million shares, or more than 20 percent of Zebra common stock outstanding.
With the largest installed base in the industry, Zebra sells more on-demand thermal printers for barcoding and other labeling applications than any other company.