EMREmerson Electric Company

Emerson Electric sells process automation — the instruments and software that run plants.

Customers are refining, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and power — industries where a production stoppage costs more than any equipment. Instruments and control systems stay on site for decades, and replacing them requires a shutdown, hence high retention and recurring service revenue.

The company has steadily reshaped itself: it sold the climate business and bought test equipment and industrial software makers, shifting from hardware toward software with better margins and a subscription model.

Cyclicality comes from customers' capital budgets: large modernisation projects are deferred when oil is cheap and revive when it is expensive. Emerson is a dividend aristocrat with a very long record of increases.