Yahoo Finance How Does Teradyne's (NASDAQ:TER) P/E Compare To Its Industry, After The Share Price Drop?
To the annoyance of some shareholders, Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER) shares are down a considerable 32% in the last month. Looking back over the last year, the stock has been a solid performer, with a gain of 23%.
Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.
View our latest analysis for Teradyne
How Does Teradyne's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?
We can tell from its P/E ratio of 18.18 that sentiment around Teradyne isn't particularly high. The image below shows that Teradyne has a lower P/E than the average (25.2) P/E for companies in the semiconductor industry.
This suggests that market participants think Teradyne will underperform other companies in its industry. While current expectations are low, the stock could be undervalued if the situation is better than the market assumes. You should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up.
Most would be impressed by Teradyne earnings growth of 14% in the last year. And earnings per share have improved by 47% annually, over the last five years. This could arguably justify a relatively high P/E ratio.
Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits
It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.
Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.
How Does Teradyne's Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?
Teradyne has net cash of US$517m. That should lead to a higher P/E than if it did have debt, because its strong balance sheets gives it more options.
The Bottom Line On Teradyne's P/E Ratio
Teradyne has a P/E of 18.2. That's higher than the average in its market, which is 13.3. With cash in the bank the company has plenty of growth options -- and it is already on the right track. So it does not seem strange that the P/E is above average. What can be absolutely certain is that the market has become significantly less optimistic about Teradyne over the last month, with the P/E ratio falling from 26.7 back then to 18.2 today. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for a contrarian, it may signal opportunity.
Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with modest (or no) debt, trading on a P/E below 20.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
