Embroidery is big business nowadays. You name it--baseball caps, T-shirts, women's clothing--all are ripe targets for this process. To embroider, you need a machine. And that's where Hirsch International (HRSH) comes in. The Hauppauge (N.Y.) company is a leading distributor of such devices, particularly those made by Tajima Industries and Brother Industries. The company has had robust earnings growth, but its Class A shares have suffered lately, dropping 1.4% so far in 1997.

The market's lack of enthusiasm doesn't faze Clifford Henry, manager of the Worthington Growth hedge fund and a holder of Hirsch stock. Henry is adding to his Hirsch stake, in the view that its recent travails are temporary. He notes that the company is generating returns on equity approaching 30%. Moreover, the profit outlook is bright, and there is as yet little institutional ownership. All this points to a stock rebound.

Hirsch distributes the whole gamut of embroidery equipment, from single-head machines for small-garment outfits to complex, 24-head behemoths for larger operations. A growing field for the company is embroidery software, which is being developed by its Pulse Microsystems subsidiary. The software brings computer-aided-design technology to the embroidery business.