Editor's note: In the video, Austin said Green Mountain would not get patent protection for the Vue; he meant to say the patent protection would not be meaningful. The Fool regrets the error.
The following video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which consumer-goods editor and analyst Austin Smith and senior technology analyst Eric Bleeker discuss topics around the investing world.
With Green Mountain Coffee Roasters' plunge from $115 per share down to $24, some are starting to ask themselves whether the company has gone from a growth stock to a value stock overnight. Despite the zealous K-Cup sales estimates by management, the company is still selling more pods than this time last year. With a forward P/E of less than 8 and 30% growth expected by analysts for the next five years, the company could be mispriced.
However, the dark cloud of patent uncertainty still looms, and no one is really sure which companies will come out of the woodwork with cheaper K-Cups after that, or whether they'll even be worth buying. Not only that, but it seems Green Mountain's contracts with the big brewers are short-term at best, meaning they can jump ship if need be.
Instead of making long-shot bets on a Green Mountain turnaround, you should look at a company with big growth and a proven model that Wall Street isn't watching yet. Those are just a few of the reasons our chief investment officer has named this The Motley Fool's Top Stock of 2012.You can learn more about this company in a special report compiled by our analysts, but it won't be available forever, so click here to read it while you still can.
