New economy wird profitabel und gemessen an der old economy, die Realität holt die Phantasie ein:
One of the biggest casualties of the week is Yahoo.
In the past three declining trading sessions, 34 percent of Yahoo's market value evaporated with the biggest chunk blown away on Wednesday.
On Thursday, two days after Yahoo delivered its third quarter results that topped profit expectations, shares (YHOO: news, msgs) continued to slide, falling 13 percent to $56.63.
If Yahoo drops below $55, it would be the lowest level since December of '98.
And if relative valuations is any guide as to what is expensive these days, then Yahoo shares may very well revisit those levels.
At $56, Yahoo trades at 95 times '01 earnings estimates of 59 cents. Yet Yahoo is expected to grow next year's earnings by about 25 percent.
"If you valued Yahoo as a normal technology company based on consensus earnings growth of about 25 percent, a price-to-earnings ratio of nearly 100 would still be considered expensive," said David Pearl, portfolio manager at ING Asset Management. In comparison, Cisco Systems (CSCO: news, msgs) is trading at about 60 times forward earnings, and it has an earnings growth rate of nearly 30 percent, Pearl said. |