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EBAY vs. AMZN: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Internet - Commerce stocks are likely familiar with eBay (EBAY - Free Report) and Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Right now, eBay is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Amazon has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that EBAY is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

EBAY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.57, while AMZN has a forward P/E of 122.02. We also note that EBAY has a PEG ratio of 1.09. 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. AMZN currently has a PEG ratio of 5.09.

Another notable valuation metric for EBAY is its P/B ratio of 13.95. 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, AMZN has a P/B of 18.41.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to EBAY's Value grade of B and AMZN's Value grade of F.

EBAY stands above AMZN thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that EBAY is the superior value option right now.


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