Today I’m running the rule over three great growth stars.
A delicious stocks star
Takeaway specialist Just Eat (LSE: JE) lit up the market last week following acquisition activity on foreign shores.
The London business paid €125m to purchase the internet takeout businesses of Rocket Internet in Italy and Spain, plus the Brazilian and Mexican divisions of foodpanda. Just Eat puts the value of the takeaway markets in these countries at more that £8bn.
Just Eat has been a stock market casualty in recent weeks, shedding over a fifth of its value since the turn of 2016. But I believe the company remains a red-hot growth star regardless of bumpiness in the global economy — cheeky takeaways are a relatively cheap and enjoyable luxury both at home and abroad.
The City expects Just Eat to follow a predicted 38% earnings advance last year with a 59% rise in 2016. A subsequent P/E rating of 50.4 times may look conventionally expensive, although a sub-1 PEG reading suggests the business isn’t that expensive relative to its earnings prospects.
And given that Just Eat continues to invest heavily in its ‘virtual menu’, and that further acquisition activity is more than likely, I reckon earnings multiples should keep on toppling as revenues surge.
Microchip marvel set to shine
Concerns over market saturation in the critical smartphone and tablet PC markets continue to cast doubt over the earnings outlook for microchip manufacturer ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM).
Mobile colossus Apple’s disappointing results late last month exacerbated worries that demand in these areas has now reached an inflection point, while poorly sales numbers from Samsung and HTC have done nothing to soothe investor concerns.
However, I believe ARM Holdings has what it takes to keep sales moving higher. Sure, breakneck demand for mobile devices may be gone, but overall sales are still chugging comfortably higher. And the Cambridge operator’s growing presence in the fast-growing network and servers segments is also helping to keep licence wins rolling.
The number crunchers expect ARM Holdings to record a 67% earnings rise in 2015, and an extra 14% increase for the current period.
While a prospective P/E reading of 32.6 times may be considered expensive, I believe the company’s reputation as the chipbuilder of choice for the world’s tech titans should keep earnings swelling long into the future.
Bank on bumper returns
While fears over the health of the global economy could weigh on banking giant Barclays’ (LSE: BARC) shares for some time yet, I believe the firm’s long-term growth outlook merits serious attention.
Its Retail Banking and Barclaycard divisions appear in great shape to deliver robust revenues growth in the years ahead, while vast operations in Africa also provide the firm with brilliant emerging market exposure.
On top of this, the results of Barclays’ massive Transform restructuring scheme should make it a lean, earnings-generating machine in the long term.
The City expects Barclays to follow a 24% earnings rise last year with a 21% bump in 2016, leaving it dealing on a very attractive P/E rating of just 8.6 times — a reading below 10 times is widely considered terrific value. And a PEG readout of 0.4 times underlines Barclays’ value for money.
While it could be argued Barclays’ long-running fight against rising PPI provisions merits a low earnings multiple, I believe current prices are too cheap given its excellent growth prospects at home and abroad.