Fortune magazine this week compares Wall Street’s view of prospects for Google and Amazon against the consistently undervalued Apple. In the accompanying charts, which make compelling viewing, Apple soundly beats the opposition on every score but one ― price/earnings ratio.
By far the most puzzling is the third row where Apple has the biggest earnings per share and yet suffers the lowest p/e ratio of 14. Compare this with Amazon, a darling of Wall Street, which enjoys a staggering p/e of 1,436. Check out also the annual dividend per share: Apple $12.20, Google nil, Amazon nil.
What all this says is that Apple’s tremendous success is almost totally ignored by Wall Street and investors while Amazon, in particular, is believed to have an almost supernatural ability to expand.