"Don't catch a falling knife," as the old saw commands. (Pardon my mixing a cutlery metaphor.) The idea of buying a former superstar stock at a discount price certainly has its attractions, but you've got to make sure you catch the haft -- not the blade. That's where Motley Fool CAPS comes in.
Today, we once again stand beneath Mr. Market's silverware drawer, measuring which knives have fallen the farthest. Then we'll call on CAPS to ask which of these stocks -- if any -- Foolish investors believe are ready for a rebound. Let's meet today's list of contenders, drawn from the latest "52-Week Lows" list at Nasdaq.com:
Company |
52-Week High |
Recent Price |
CAPS Rating (5 max): |
---|---|---|---|
Telkom Indonesia |
$56.94 |
$29.50 |
***** |
ZymoGenetics |
$15.23 |
$7.24 |
*** |
eBay |
$40.73 |
$22.55 |
*** |
Sangamo Biosciences |
$19.82 |
$8.07 |
*** |
Aixtron AG |
$16.08 |
$7.47 |
*** |
Companies are selected from the "NASDAQ 52-Week Low" list published on Nasdaq.com on the Saturday following close of trading last week. 52-week high and recent price provided by Yahoo! Finance. CAPS ratings from Motley Fool CAPS.
If there's one good thing about a broad-based market sell-off, it's that you find a lot of terrific companies getting the ol' baby 'n' bathwater treatment. Tossed out on their rosy little bums as if they were bums of another sort. You know -- just know -- that some of these babies are gonna bounce right back once the suds subside.
Secure in this knowledge, CAPS members are taking the sell-off with some equanimity this week. Four of our five stocks, bouncing around their 52-week lows, still enjoy three-star ratings on CAPS -- suggesting that while others panic, Fools see little reason for worry.
More than that, there's one stock on the list that positively gets our hearts to thumping, the "mellifluously titled" Perusahaan Perseroan Perseropt PTelekomunikasi Indonesia tbk (to steal a description used by the Fool's own Bill Mann in recommending the stock to Motley Fool Global Gains members earlier this year). Why do Fools love "Telkom Indonesia" (as it's friends call it)? We're about to find out, as we delve into ...
The bull case for Telkom Indonesia
DanePymble sums up the bull thesis on this one in just a couple lines: "dominant telecommunications provider in a relatively underpenatrated Indonesian market. Massive upside in areas outside Jakarta with under 50% penatration which will increase along with increasing affluence."
CAPS All-Star JMJeffrey agrees:
Largest telecom provider in Indonesia (240 million people) offering the pseudo-monopoly telecom package with great cash flows, barriers to entry, and growth opportunities. ... Oh, did I tell you it is at a 52 week low? ... The country and the government's control of the company is a bit of a risk but I believe that at these prices we get income and growth appreciation... Ini adalah pilihan sangat baik!...Indonesian for 'This (one) is a very good choice!!'
Count fellow All-Star ikkyu2 in as well as he chimed in in May. While granting that Telkom Indonesia is "a government-sponsored monopoly in a country wracked with fundamentalist religious strife, natural disaster after natural disaster, and spectacular mismanagement at all levels," ikkyu2 argues that it: "is also the leading player in a gargantuan, barely tapped market. People will have their cell phones - they'll go without rice before they go without talking to their friends and family. ... Besides, Indonesia has monkeys. What's not to love?"
Um, monkeys?
Hey, don't knock the monkeys. I hear they're better stock pickers than half their pinstriped cousins on Wall Street. And with Telkom Indonesia paying you a 5.7% dividend, you're already halfway toward beating the market's long-term average return just by owning the stock.
That's a better dividend, by the way, than you'll reap from owning most of the major U.S. telcos. Verizon
Foolish takeaway
With a 0.6 PEG ratio and free cash flow so copious that it makes the price-to-free cash flow ratio almost laughably low, Telkom Indonesia looks very attractive. And the monster dividend? That's just the cherry on this monkey's banana split. Bon appetit, Fools.