If you opted to buy either Dutch electronics maker Philips (NYSE:PHG) or Japan's Sony (NYSE:SNE) instead of General Electric (NYSE:GE) back in the fall, you're probably feeling pretty proud of yourself. Stretch that out to even longer time periods and Philips still looks pretty appealing -- and certainly smokes Sony.

Yet Philips just doesn't get all that much love. Does it deserve investors' skepticism?

One quarter does not a good, or bad, story make, but things here are looking quite a bit more promising than when I looked at Philips back in the summer of '05. Total revenue rose nearly 14% this quarter, with every segment posting double-digit performance in reported terms. Operating income, too, was quite strong -- up 62% as reported and still up 47% if you exclude a gain on sale. Net income wasn't quite all that it was hoped to be, but there was a charge there as well.

Nothing really leaps out at me as especially troublesome about this quarter. Yes, cash flow was poor, but it pretty much always is this quarter, and the company also made a large pension contribution. What's more, sector-by-sector performance seemed quite reasonable, with only Philips' medical division failing to post higher operating profits.

On a straightforward cash flow basis, this stock seems cheap. Very cheap. Whenever that happens, I get immediately suspicious and start looking more closely at the story.

There are definitely some issues here. Because of the semiconductor business and its large ownership stake in Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM), Philips often trades in step with the semiconductor space. A spinoff of the semiconductor business and a sale of the Taiwan Semiconductor stock could help that. Likewise, the company would do well to get rid of some of its commodity electronics businesses and focus more on distinctive brandable products.

The stock has had a nice little jump, but more could be on the way. I'm not 100% comfortable with my own valuation analysis here, but it's at least enticing enough to make me want to dig in further. Fools who want to dig up an international value may want to join me on this particular search.

For more foreign Foolish frivolity:

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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).