Yahoo Finance Is Texas Instruments Incorporated's (NASDAQ:TXN) P/E Ratio Really That Good?
The goal of this article is to teach you how to use price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). To keep it practical, we'll show how Texas Instruments Incorporated's (NASDAQ:TXN) P/E ratio could help you assess the value on offer. Based on the last twelve months, Texas Instruments's P/E ratio is 20.86. That means that at current prices, buyers pay $20.86 for every $1 in trailing yearly profits.
View our latest analysis for Texas Instruments
How Do You Calculate Texas Instruments's P/E Ratio?
The formula for P/E is:
Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)
Or for Texas Instruments:
P/E of 20.86 = $117.26 ÷ $5.62 (Based on the year to March 2019.)
Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good?
The higher the P/E ratio, the higher the price tag of a business, relative to its trailing earnings. That isn't a good or a bad thing on its own, but a high P/E means that buyers have a higher opinion of the business's prospects, relative to stocks with a lower P/E.
How Does Texas Instruments's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?
The P/E ratio indicates whether the market has higher or lower expectations of a company. The image below shows that Texas Instruments has a lower P/E than the average (22.6) P/E for companies in the semiconductor industry.
Its relatively low P/E ratio indicates that Texas Instruments shareholders think it will struggle to do as well as other companies in its industry classification. While current expectations are low, the stock could be undervalued if the situation is better than the market assumes. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. A lower P/E should indicate the stock is cheap relative to others -- and that may attract buyers.
Texas Instruments increased earnings per share by a whopping 38% last year. And earnings per share have improved by 22% annually, over the last five years. So we'd generally expect it to have a relatively high P/E ratio.
Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits
One drawback of using a P/E ratio is that it considers market capitalization, but not the balance sheet. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.
Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.
Texas Instruments's Balance Sheet
Net debt totals just 1.6% of Texas Instruments's market cap. It would probably trade on a higher P/E ratio if it had a lot of cash, but I doubt it is having a big impact.
The Bottom Line On Texas Instruments's P/E Ratio
Texas Instruments trades on a P/E ratio of 20.9, which is above its market average of 17.9. Its debt levels do not imperil its balance sheet and its EPS growth is very healthy indeed. So to be frank we are not surprised it has a high P/E ratio.
When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. If the reality for a company is better than it expects, you can make money by buying and holding for the long term. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.
Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Texas Instruments. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
