You find a stock. The story is great and the fundamentals look solid. But when you pull up the chart, you see a vertical line going straight up.
Is it too late to buy? Or are you missing out?
This is a 4 step valuation roadmap to filter out expensive stocks. Mainly for growth oriented portfolios (long term investment)
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Step 1: The Context Check (The Moat)
Before looking at the P/E ratio, check the durability of the business.
\* Wide Moat: Companies like ARM or Microsoft. High switching costs or network effects. These deserve a premium valuation.
\* No Moat: Companies like Airlines. They compete strictly on price. These are capital destruction machines over the long term.
Rule: If the Moat is None, stop. The price doesn't matter if the business is indefensible.
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Step 2: The Profit Fork
You cannot value all stocks the same way. You must ask if it is actually making money.
\* Path A (Profitable): Value these based on Earnings (P/E, PEG).
\* Path B (Unprofitable): Value these based on Revenue and Survival (P/S, Cash).
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Step 3: The Valuation Rules
For Profitable Stocks (Path A)
P/E is useless in a vacuum. A P/E of 50 is cheap if growth is 50%. A P/E of 10 is expensive if growth is 0%.
Use the PEG Ratio (P/E divided by EPS Growth).
\* PEG under 1.0: Undervalued.
\* PEG around 1.5: Fair Value.
\* PEG over 2.0: Expensive.
\* Note: For dividend stocks, use the PEGY Ratio to give them credit for the yield.
For Unprofitable Stocks (Path B)
Use Price-to-Sales (P/S).
\* P/S under 10: Generally cheap for high-growth tech.
\* P/S over 50: The Danger Zone. At 50x sales, the company is priced for absolute perfection.
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Step 4: The Quality and Survival Check
If a stock looks expensive (PEG over 2.0), is it an automatic sell? Not necessarily. It might be a premium asset.
The Margin Test (For Profitable Stocks)
High prices require high Gross Margins.
\* Software needs over 70% margins.
\* Hardware needs over 40% margins.
If the margins are low and the price is high, it is a bubble.
The Cash Runway (For Unprofitable Stocks)
Check the Total Cash divided by Annual Burn.
\* Over 2 years: Safe.
\* Under 1 year: Dilution Risk. They will likely issue new shares to raise cash, which crushes your stock price.
A photo and video to summarize the roadmap is in the profile page, as posting photos is an option here.