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GM vs. TSLA: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Automotive - Domestic stocks are likely familiar with General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) and Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, General Motors Company is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Tesla has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that GM's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

GM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.24, while TSLA has a forward P/E of 44.37. We also note that GM has a PEG ratio of 0.53. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. TSLA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.80.

Another notable valuation metric for GM is its P/B ratio of 0.62. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, TSLA has a P/B of 10.43.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to GM's Value grade of A and TSLA's Value grade of C.

GM is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that GM is likely the superior value option right now.


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