Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, embattled Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Toyota's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Toyota facts
| Headquarters (Founded) | Toyota City, Japan (1933) |
| Market Cap | $134.27 billion |
| Industry | Automobile manufacturers |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $229.87 billion |
| Management |
President/Director Akio Toyoda Chief Financial Officer Katsuyuki Kusakawa |
| Return on Equity (Average Past 3 Years) | 1.5% |
| Cash/Debt | $42.26 billion / $143.56 billion |
| Dividend Yield | 1.3% |
| Competitors |
Ford Motor
General Motors
Honda Motor |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 10% of the 3,722 members who have rated Toyota believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bears include redclaymud and cronycapitalist.
Late last month, redclaymud tapped the stock as an untimely opportunity:
Toyota is dealing with four problems. The damage caused by the earthquake, a shortage of power to it's Japan factories, a declined auto industry, and still trying to restore confidence in quality control. I would say they will underperform a strong year or so.
Currently, Toyota even sports a P/E of 21. That represents a premium to rivals Ford (9.2), General Motors (10.9), and Honda (4.8).
CAPS member cronycapitalist elaborates on the bear case:
Electricity is scarce, workers are distraut, logistics (road and sea) are a mess, [just-in-time] processes impossible and 3 nuclear reactors are having serious issues with no trustworthy source reporting the facts. It's going to take a significant amount of time to get all of this under control. The contagion from Japan's many setbacks, the tension in the middle east and the probable default by Europe (and the U.S.) on debt obligations (and the contagion) has Black Swan written all over it.
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