Big gains in 2010

The revenues were less than some investors expected because of significant fourth-quarter investments in equipment and tooling for WSI's expanding business.

"That's a good thing," said WSI President Benjamin Rashleger, ticking off new business and clients. "We're really a large machine shop with some assembly. And we are investing the business."

That list included fast-growing Compellent Research, the innovative data storage-equipment designer that will become part of Dell's move into cloud computing; ADC Telecommunications, which struggled to recover from the 1998-2000 research bubble, by Tyco Electronics Corp.; and AGA Medical, which invented sophisticated plugs that substitute for certain higher-cost heart surgeries, bought by big St. Jude Medical.

The companies that didn't get out of investor doghouses include huge Best Buy, which is getting undercut on electronics pricing in flat-panel TVs and other commodity products by Wal-Mart, Target and other discounters; and problem-plagued Supervalu, which has been unsuccessfully digesting its far-flung grocery business for years.

The industrial

Belski expects continued strong results from the industrial and information research sectors as more-confident businesses update desktop research.