Hi Tom,
It looks like the market is saying something, doesn't it? I think that JBL is regarded as having a "clean" business... modest acquisition write-offs that are easily identified, straight communications with relatively accurate projections, and a more competitive array of manufacturing resources resulting from a "grow your own" approach to factories, technology and business solutions. (wow! was that a run on sentence or what?) The other folks have spotty records in most of these regards; moreover, it appears that JBL is taking customer share from the others, implying superior customer perception of value. With overall earnings and stock prices so low compared to prior years, I think longer term investors are willing to pay up a little more on the expectation that JBL will recover faster and further than the others. (ie, the most expensive cheap stock). If earnings levels recover somewhat in the next year, they might be right. On the other hand, it could be a result of recurring short squeezes as skeptics bet against the price based on comparison to the others.
Take care,
Cruzer. |
