I had considered comparing PRIA's PE to that of Asyst and Brooks, but decided that it didn't make much sense. Brooks is in a similar business, but they're really not direct competitors. PRIA trades at a PE premium to Brooks, but it always has. Asyst does compete with PRI, but Asyst's valuation merits special consideration. Asyst posted a large (and very unexpected) loss last year. Even including the loss, Asyst trades at a significant PE discount to PRI on a trailing basis and an even larger discount on a forward basis. But then Asyst's earnings incorporate a seemingly random element; certainly, Asyst has frustrated the analysts trying to forecast their earnings. For now, I would pay more attention to revenue growth rather than actual earnings for Asyst. On a price to sales basis, the breakdown is: PRIA 3.3, BRKS 1.6, ASYT 0.6 - clearly PRIA trades at a significant premium to these two companies using this metric.
Daifuku is a Japanese company and is PRI's primary competitor. Reportedly, PRI's systems fare well in direct comparison to Daifuku's, but the Japanese market is not very open. I believe that Daifuku is traded on the Japanese market, but I have no idea of their PE and doubt that a comparison would be meaningful. |
