Is There Now An Opportunity In Intel Corporation?

Today we're going to take a look at the well-established Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC). The company's stock saw significant share price movement during recent months on the NASDAQ, rising to highs of US$49.55 and falling to the lows of US$30.47. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Intel's current trading price of US$30.47 reflective of the actual value of the large-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at Intel’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

According to our price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. We’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 31.9x is currently trading slightly above its industry peers’ ratio of 28.06x, which means if you buy Intel today, you’d be paying a relatively sensible price for it. And if you believe that Intel should be trading at this level in the long run, then there should only be a fairly immaterial downside vs other industry peers. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Intel’s share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What does the future of Intel look like?

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to more than double over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Intel. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? INTC’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at INTC? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on INTC, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for INTC, which means it’s worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.