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ERIC or QCOM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Wireless Equipment stocks are likely familiar with Ericsson (ERIC - Free Report) and Qualcomm (QCOM - 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.

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

Right now, Ericsson is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Qualcomm has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that ERIC is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

ERIC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.51, while QCOM has a forward P/E of 20.20. We also note that ERIC has a PEG ratio of 0.82. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. QCOM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.14.

Another notable valuation metric for ERIC is its P/B ratio of 3.29. 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, QCOM has a P/B of 19.25.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to ERIC's Value grade of A and QCOM's Value grade of D.

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


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