American Science & Engineering
Last quarter, after commending AS&E for continuing to gross more profit per revenue dollar than rivals OSI Systems
AS&E's free cash flow for the fiscal year came to an anemic $27.9 million, just 65% of reported "profits." So while you might think the stock looks attractive at 18 times profits, I'd suggest you look at it a little differently. Look at AS&E as a business that you're being asked to invest in. A business that will cost you 28.5 times the amount of cash that it generates in a year. Sound like a good deal to you?
Nope. Doesn't sound that way to me, either. To win my investing dollars, AS&E is going to have to grow a whole lot faster than the 11% pace Wall Street has it pegged for. And remember -- so far, Wall Street's been shooting high on this one.