CNET recently put out an article discussing the most profitable US corporations. The article shows that even with Apple’s disappointing quarter that caused a major drop in stock price, Apple is still had more income than anyone else. The issue is that the analysts thought that the results were going to be even better, so the analysts were disappointed. When you disappoint analysts, they punish you by saying bad things. I am borrowing the great CNET chart below.

 

Apples disappointing quarter in context chart

 

To this analysis, I would like show how cheap these stocks really are. While I try to not compare the P/E ratio of non-competitors, I think it is valid for this one exercise.

If we look at the P/E and EPS of these companies, it is quite telling how cheap Apple really is among this peer group.

 

Company

Symbol

P/E

EPS

Apple Inc.

AAPL

9.78

44.10

Exxon Mobil Corporation

XOM

9.17

9.69

Microsoft Corporation

MSFT

15.39

1.82

Pfizer Inc.

PFE

22.36

1.26

International Business Machines Corp.

IBM

14.57

14.41

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPM

9.64

5.20

Wells Fargo & Co

WFC

10.85

3.36

The Procter & Gamble Company

PG

19.76

3.90

General Electric Company

GE

17.08

1.39

 

It might not be obvious from looking at the above table of values. Looking at P/E as a chart shows that Apple is one of the cheapest stocks by comparing its price to the earnings of the company.

Apple's PE compared to the most profitable companies

 

It really becomes obvious then by looking at the earnings per share in chart format!

Apple's EPS compared to the most profitable companies

 

So if you think that Apple’s days are done, you may want to think again! In fact, the biggest complaint that you can say about Apple is it seems that they are not getting enough shareholder value! 

If you think that IBM is fairly priced for its earnings then it would be realistic that Apple could increase its share price by 50% if you focus on P/E! By looking at Microsoft, you could say that the price could go up 60%! This means that it is likely that Apple has more upside potential than downside risk.

My disclaimer on this site consistently says that I ‘might’ be long any stock I talk about. In this case, I am long on Apple as I write this article. However, as I consistently point out in my book, The Confident Investor, I didn’t pay for those shares! My current Apple holdings are all free.  If you want to know how to get free stock in great companies, I suggest that you read my book. You can purchase my book wherever books are sold such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books A Million. It is available in e-book formats for Nook, Kindle, and iPad.

Company name Pfizer Inc.
Stock ticker PFE
Live stock price [stckqut]PFE[/stckqut]
P/E compared to competitors Good

MANAGEMENT EXECUTION

Employee productivity Good
Sales growth Poor
EPS growth Good
P/E growth Poor
EBIT growth Good

ANALYSIS

Confident Investor Rating Fair
Target stock price (TWCA growth scenario) $30.5
Target stock price (averages with growth) $30.14
Target stock price (averages with no growth) $24.31
Target stock price (manual assumptions) $30.09

The following company description is from Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance?q=pfe
Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer) is a research-based, global biopharmaceutical company. The Company manages its operations through five segments: Primary Care; Specialty Care and Oncology; Established Products and Emerging Markets; Animal Health and Consumer Healthcare, and Nutrition. The Company’s diversified global healthcare portfolio includes human and animal biologic and small molecule medicines and vaccines, as well as nutritional products and consumer healthcare products. Its Animal Health business unit discovers, develops and sells products for the prevention and treatment of diseases in livestock and companion animals. On August 1, 2011, it completed the sale of its Capsugel business. In October 2011, it acquired Icagen, Inc. In December 2011, it acquired the consumer healthcare business of Ferrosan Holding A/S. In December 2011, it acquired Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In November 2012, the Company acquired NextWave Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

 

 

Confident Investor comments: At this time, I think that a Confident Investor can cautiously invest in this stock as long as the price is correct. Most of the fundamentals of this company are good but there are some concerns.

 

If you would like to understand how to evaluate companies like I do on this site, please read my book, The Confident Investor.

Company name Pfizer Inc.
Stock ticker PFE
Live stock price [stckqut]PFE[/stckqut]
P/E compared to competitors Good
MANAGEMENT EXECUTION
Employee productivity Good
Sales growth Poor
EPS growth Good
P/E growth Poor
EBIT growth Good
ANALYSIS
Confident Investor Rating Fair
Target stock price (TWCA growth scenario) $26.49
Target stock price (averages with growth) $26.7
Target stock price (averages with no growth) $18.2
Target stock price (manual assumptions) $19.2

Confident Investor comments: At this time, I think that a Confident Investor can cautiously invest in this stock as long as the price is correct. Most of the fundamentals of this company are good but there are some concerns.