CROSS A T CO (ATX)
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Company Analysis
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A.T. Cross Company engages in the manufacture and marketing of writing instruments and optical products. It operates in two segments, Writing Instruments and Accessories, and Optical. The Writing Instruments and Accessories segment manufactures and markets writing instruments under the Cross brand consisting of ball-point pens, fountain pens, and selectip rolling ball pens, which accommodate various types of refills, and mechanical pencils. This segment also designs and markets writing instruments under the Penatia and Omni by Cross brands; a line of writing instruments under the licensed name of Bill Blass; and various refills for its products. In addition, The Writing Instruments and Accessories segment designs and markets various personal and business accessories, including watches, precision reading glasses, desk sets, leather goods, and key rings. This segment sells its products through its direct sales force and manufacturers' agents or representatives to wholesale accounts and retail accounts, including gift stores, department stores, jewelers, stationery, office supply and pen specialty stores, mass merchandisers, and the United States military post exchanges in the United States; and to consumers in the United States, Canada, and Hong Kong on the company's Web site. The Optical segment designs, manufactures, and markets polarized eyewear under the brand name Costa Del Mar. This segment sells its products through employee representatives and manufacturer's agents to retail accounts, including optical and sunglass specialty shops, department stores, and sporting goods retailers in the United States. The company operates in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. A.T. Cross was founded in 1846 and is headquartered in Lincoln, Rhode Island.
Cross faces a lot of challenges. First, it has the "graduation pen" (i.e., the classic chrome Cross Solo ballpoint pen), which is their best-selling pen ever. (According to A.T. Cross, this pen has inspired a movie.) However, the brand has not been able to maintain an image of elegance, exclusivity or luxury necessary in today's luxury goods market, and has lost a lot of ground to brands such as Mont Blanc. Parker's pens compete with the Solo, also. In the last ten years, Cross has been branching out, creating new, innovative pen designs and pushing the envelope with their technology (i.e., the gel pen), but it does not seem that these designs or innovations have really caught on with consumers. Instead, consumers have moved to brands which have a greater cache.
Having said that, the Cross Townsend Fountain pen is one of the truly great pens available - it has weight, a classic and simple design and is recognizable. The Solo still sells in places like Office Depot and other supply stores, and is a good all-around pen. Cross also offers a lifetime mechanical warranty on all of their pens, which sets it apart from Mont Blanc, Omas, Cartier, etc. However, it is not in the upper tier of pens (with, for example, S.T. Dupont, Hermes, or even Dunhill). A radical change back to elegance and away from innovative, yet ultimately unsatisfying, designs, and a branding/marketing strategy aimed at connecting the Cross name with elegance, luxury and sophistication, would bring this company back to its former glory days at the top of the American pen market. [citation needed]
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Research Links
- CROSS A T CO Snapshot
- Profile at Yahoo Finance
- Profile at MoneyCentral.com
- Company Events
- Earnings Estimates
- Competitors at Yahoo Finance
- CROSS A T CO Leadership
- Officers and Directors at Reuters
- Salaries and Compensation at Reuters
- Insider Trades at Money Central
- Insider Trades at TheStreet.com
- Institutional Ownership at Money Central
- CROSS A T CO Fundamentals
- Key Statistics Yahoo Finance
- Key Ratios at Reuters
- Dividends and Returns at Morningstar
- SEC Filings at Edgar Online
- Financial Statements Quickview at Morningstar
- Historical Prices at Yahoo Finance
- Analyst Estimates
- All Press Articles
- CROSS A T CO Technical Analysis
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Notes
- ↑ This is a sample reference.
