Back to top

Image: Bigstock

QFIN or SYM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Investors interested in Technology Services stocks are likely familiar with Qifu Technology, Inc. (QFIN - Free Report) and Symbotic Inc. (SYM - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Qifu Technology, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Symbotic Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell). This means that QFIN's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks 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.

QFIN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 6.07, while SYM has a forward P/E of 177.02. We also note that QFIN has a PEG ratio of 0.53. 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. SYM currently has a PEG ratio of 5.90.

Another notable valuation metric for QFIN is its P/B ratio of 2.13. 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, SYM has a P/B of 49.87.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to QFIN's Value grade of A and SYM's Value grade of F.

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

Published in