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UMC vs. AMD: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Electronics - Semiconductors sector might want to consider either United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC - Free Report) or Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, United Microelectronics Corporation has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Advanced Micro Devices has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that UMC has an improving earnings outlook. 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.

UMC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.16, while AMD has a forward P/E of 31.95. We also note that UMC has a PEG ratio of 4.63. 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. AMD currently has a PEG ratio of 4.66.

Another notable valuation metric for UMC is its P/B ratio of 1.91. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, AMD has a P/B of 2.83.

These metrics, and several others, help UMC earn a Value grade of A, while AMD has been given a Value grade of F.

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


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