Seeking Alpha: Is NCR Still A Sheep In Wolf's Clothing?

NCR (NYSE:NCR) has generally told a good story over the years, pointing to the emerging market growth opportunities in ATMs, the growth offered by branch transformation and increased service offerings in the U.S. banking sector, and the opportunities in retail and hospitality, particularly from software. It hasn't really worked out, though. The company's revenue has been growing modestly on a constant currency basis, and although the company has made strides with its free cash flow generation, the shares are down about a quarter from when I last wrote on them about two years ago.

I don't disagree that there are growth opportunities in the markets that NCR serves that could underpin mid single-digit or higher long-term growth. The problem, in my view, is that companies like Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), VeriFone (NYSE:PAY), Ingenico (OTCPK:INGIY), and Global Payments (NYSE:GPN)/Heartland Payments (NYSE:HPY) have increasingly blurred the lines in the hardware and software spaces within retail and hospitality and I'm concerned that NCR just doesn't have the vision and the portfolio to really leverage those opportunities.

The upcoming Investor Day could be an opportunity for the company to lay out some bold transformative strategies for the company, but I'm very concerned that it'll be more of the same, (a lot of promises, but weak delivery) and I just don't see a reason to mess around with a company that has had numerous opportunities to reestablish its growth credibility.

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Is NCR Still A Sheep In Wolf's Clothing?