How do you know if a stock is too expensive? P/E analysis?

Dear,

I am interning at an investment firm as an ER intern. I want to see how you determine if a stock is more expensive or cheaper than its fair value. How do you use P/E in this process?

Thanks!

20 Comments
 

Never actually done that but I'd imagine you would look at the P/E against the ROI and run a regression with similar stocks? Would love some input on this too.

 

On a very basic level the P/E ratio will give you a quick glimpse. Compare the ratio to the closest competitors. Furthermore, a big factor when researching a company is understanding their products and how they differentiate from the competition. Do you believe it is a good product? If overall the valuation compared to its peers seems fair and you believe in their product and execution then it might be a good investment.

Now the more complicated, and technical, method starts with yoy growth, ROIC, all the way to building a DCF. However, for starters I would just focus on the financial statements and see if the numbers are convincing.

I hope this makes sense.

 

People are giving you sardonic answers because there's not much more than fundamental analysis (people can't give you over-valued stocks because they can't give you under-valued stocks). Remember that P/E represents earnings divided by (cost of equity - implied perpetual growth rate). What do you think about this implied growth or this cost of capital based on your own fundamental analysis?

 
Most Helpful

P\E is a good starting point but not very useful in isolation. Like the first reply says, compare it to the company's historical P\E and compare it to the P\E of a handful of similar companies. Then if it's relatively higher or lower try to dig in a little bit to find out why. A high P\E relative to peers may be justified if its margins are better/improving or if its revenue/earnings growth is meaningfully higher. Conversely. A low P\E doesn't necessarily mean a company is cheap but could be because of deteriorating margins/earnings/growth or a capital structure that's out of wack. Definitely don't need to get too technical (regression, DCF, etc.) until you're doing deeper valuation work.

 

Look for ntm p/e not p/e and compare that to comparable a is a good proxy if individual securities are overvalued compared to others.

But then again the comparable could always be overvalued as well

Array
 

Mollitia illum molestiae eum error esse. Itaque earum et qui molestiae totam cumque in. Nesciunt repellat mollitia quia quibusdam. Possimus voluptatem autem exercitationem voluptatem harum magni ut.

Doloribus error nam dolorum rerum voluptas sed dicta. Facilis quibusdam odit cum alias. Quo natus consequatur quod ea autem.

Earum enim nihil officiis quaerat ut eos. Consequatur praesentium harum saepe earum. Recusandae ex natus voluptatem. Placeat natus ex voluptatum omnis ut et. Ipsa error quis quos vitae qui aliquid.

Laudantium aut delectus id ipsa aut eaque et. Minima et esse dolorem sapiente omnis mollitia alias rerum. Eligendi tenetur voluptatem eligendi nihil expedita earum eos. Ad vero esse cumque et. Consequatur harum deleniti dolorem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 11 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”