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GM or TSLA: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Automotive - Domestic sector might want to consider either General Motors (GM - Free Report) or Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, General Motors has 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 tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

GM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 4.62, while TSLA has a forward P/E of 96.58. We also note that GM has a PEG ratio of 0.46. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. TSLA currently has a PEG ratio of 4.47.

Another notable valuation metric for GM is its P/B ratio of 0.72. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, TSLA has a P/B of 10.51.

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

GM has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than TSLA, so it seems like value investors will conclude that GM is the superior option right now.


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