Are stocks still overpriced?
Thus the percentages on the vertical axis show the over/undervaluation as a percent above mean value, which we're using as a surrogate for fair value. Based on the latest S&P 500 monthly data, the market is overvalued somewhere in the range of 89% to 149%, depending on the indicator, up from last month's 82% to 140%.
Though the ratio's arithmetic average over the last 140 years is 17.4, a trend line that best fits the historical data currently stands at 23.5. So relative to the long-term trend, the CAPE is "just" 46% overvalued-in contrast to 97% overvalued relative to its long-term average.
The S&P 500, along with the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100, are all simultaneously trading at their all-time highs. Current market valuations are slightly above historical averages but do not indicate severe overvaluation. Sector-specific analysis shows significant variation in P/E ratios within the S&P 500.
An analysis by Ned Davis Research showed that the S&P 500 is more than 5% "overvalued," when adjusted for how the index's P/E ratio has trended since 1964. However, the index is "far from bubble territory," the firm said.
Overvaluation may result from an uptick in emotional trading, or illogical, gut-driven decision making that artificially inflates the stock's market price. Overvaluation can also occur due to deterioration in a company's fundamentals and financial strength. Potential investors strive to avoid overpaying for stocks.
Symbol | RSI (14) | Price |
---|---|---|
OCGN D | 80.91 | 1.64 USD |
HEAR D | 80.89 | 17.39 USD |
RDW D | 80.86 | 4.48 USD |
DKS D | 80.72 | 221.24 USD |
If investors purchase overvalued stocks at inflated prices, they will likely experience significant losses when the price eventually corrects its intrinsic value. This can cause long-term damage to an investor's portfolio and retirement savings.
For now at least, analysts are anticipating S&P 500 earnings growth will continue to accelerate in the first half of 2024. Analysts project S&P 500 earnings will grow 3.9% year-over-year in the first quarter and another 9% in the second quarter.
Despite the heavy concentration of the U.S. market rally in expensive, AI-focused tech stocks, analysts say Wall Street is not yet in bubble territory.
The most expensive stock listed on U.S. exchanges is Berkshire Hathaway. At the time of this writing, Berkshire Hathaway stock was trading at $623,000 a share. But that price point is for its Class A stock (BRK.
Should you still buy S&P 500?
The answer if you just starting out is an unequivocal yes. Even though I am both by nature and training a contrarian trader, for whom buying at what could well be the top of a move feels inherently wrong, that isn't a factor when it comes to long-term regular investing.
S&P 500 eclipses 5,000 for the first time—but you'd be smart to ignore the headlines, says CFP. The S&P 500 index closed above 5,000 for the first time on Friday, with investors showing continued optimism about cooling inflation, strong earnings and a resilient economy.
The estimates from strategists put the median target for the S&P 500 at 5,200 by the end of 2024, implying a decline of less than 0.1% from Thursday's level, according to MarketWatch calculations. Heading into 2024, the median target was around 5,000 (see table below).
The Buffett Indicator is the ratio of total US stock market value divided by GDP. Named after Warren Buffett, who called the ratio "the best single measure of where valuations stand at any given moment".
By the same token, though, holding on to a company that is overvalued is a risk. In these situations, it's typically best to sell your stock and be happy with the profits you've made no matter what the stock does in the future.
The “Magnificent 7” refers to the group of the U.S. tech giants, including Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA). All have seen their market caps increase recently as Big Tech continues to dominate the U.S. stock market's landscape.
- Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) ...
- ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) ...
- Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) ...
- Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) ...
- Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) ...
- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) ...
- Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ...
- Uber Technologies, Inc.
Company (TICKER) | Yearly EPS Growth Estimate (5-Year Average) |
---|---|
Mondelez International, Inc (MDLZ) | 8.4% |
CMS Energy Corporation (CMS) | 7.8% |
Pepsico, Inc. (PEP) | 7.0% |
McCormick & Company, Incorporated (MKC) | 6.7% |
1. Berkshire Hathaway Class A (BRK-A) Berkshire Hathaway offers the granddaddy of stock prices run by the granddaddy of investors, the legendary Warren Buffett. This conglomerate owns stakes in a number of businesses, including insurance, railroads and utilities.
Checking your investments too often could lead to emotional decision-making — and big losses. Investing should be a long-term game, so choose companies and funds you can stick with.
What are signs of an undervalued stock?
Some traders consider stock to be undervalued if the earnings yield is higher than the average interest rate the US government pays when borrowing money (known as the treasury yield). Earnings yield example: ABC has EPS of $10 and the share price is $50. The earnings yield will be equal to 20% ($10/$50).
There is no guarantee as to when or whether a stock that appears undervalued will appreciate. There is also no exact way to determine a stock's intrinsic value—which is essentially an educated guessing game.
It can be nerve-wracking to watch your portfolio consistently drop during bear market periods. After all, nobody likes losing money; that goes against the whole purpose of investing. However, pulling your money out of the stock market during down periods can often do more harm than good in the long term.
Third, many Wall Street analysts predict that the S&P 500 will jump in 2024, but with a lower return than last year. Sure, they're guessing, just as I am. However, they think that moderating inflation and the potential for interest rate cuts should be good for stocks.
The S&P 500 generated an impressive 26.29% total return in 2023, rebounding from an 18.11% setback in 2022. Heading into 2024, investors are optimistic the same macroeconomic tailwinds that fueled the stock market's 2023 rally will propel the S&P 500 to new all-time highs in 2024.
References
- https://www.bankrate.com/investing/highest-priced-stocks/
- https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/021615/what-safest-investment.asp
- https://www.5paisa.com/share-market-today/stocks-to-buy-or-sell-today
- https://www.tipranks.com/stocks/amzn/forecast
- https://getmoneyrich.com/historical-returns-given-top-indian-stocks/
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-best-stocks-invest-2024-200401023.html
- https://admiralmarkets.com/education/articles/shares/the-best-performing-stocks-in-history
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/11-stocks-rich-5-10-120121544.html
- https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/052615/whats-difference-between-googles-goog-and-googl-stock-tickers.asp
- https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/warren-buffett-stocks-berkshire-hathaway
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/where-will-pfizer-stock-be-in-1-year
- https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20240227135/the-stock-market-is-overvalued-from-any-perspective
- https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/stock-market-forecast-2024/
- https://www.tipranks.com/stocks/pfe/dividends
- https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/best-performing-stocks-of-the-year
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/us-stock-market-at-record-highs:-overvalued-territory-or-still-a-value-buy
- https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/stocks/where-can-the-magnificent-seven-stocks-go-in-2024
- https://www.screener.in/screens/801676/6-months-double/
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/decoding-pfizer-inc-pfe-strategic-050741922.html
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/hot-growth-stocks:-the-7-best-opportunities-to-invest-in-now
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dahern1_warren-buffett-is-the-goat-one-of-my-favorite-activity-7163502190626590721-kAHH
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/next-big-thing:-3-revolutionary-megatrends-to-invest-in-for-2024
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/undervalued.asp
- https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/pfe/analystestimates
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/12/most-shocking-stock-increases-falls.asp
- https://www.fool.com/investing/2024/01/24/why-pfizer-is-a-much-better-stock-than-you-might-t/
- https://www.smallcase.com/collections/highest-dividend-paying-stocks-in-india/
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-stocks-rich-2024-140807355.html
- https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/best-growth-stocks-to-buy
- https://www.marketwatch.com/picks/with-2-4-million-tik-tok-followers-this-former-wall-street-trader-says-this-is-how-the-ultra-wealthy-really-invest-and-psst-its-pretty-simple-33264249
- https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/stock-market-outlook-and-forecast/
- https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/investment-products/stocks
- https://www.screener.in/screens/355766/highest-return-in-1-year/
- https://scripbox.com/us-stocks/best-us-stocks-to-buy-today
- https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0711/the-highest-priced-stocks-in-america.aspx
- https://www.forbesindia.com/article/explainers/top-10-companies-india-market-valuation/86307/1
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/company-insights/082316/top-10-shareholders-pfizer-pfe.asp
- https://m.economictimes.com/markets/stocks/news/which-stocks-to-buy-in-2024-top-10-ideas-from-brokerages/articleshow/106466657.cms
- https://www.5paisa.com/blog/fundamentally-strong-penny-stocks-in-india
- https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/googl-stock
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pfizers-nyse-pfe-shareholders-receive-122304557.html
- https://www.quora.com/Who-is-the-share-market-king-today
- https://money.cnn.com/retirement/guide/investing_basics.moneymag/index7.htm
- https://www.ig.com/en/trading-strategies/how-to-find-undervalued-stocks-210804
- https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/stocks/what-are-the-magnificent-7-stocks
- https://www.pfizer.com/products/product-list
- https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/31/the-covid-pandemic-drives-pfizers-2022-revenue-to-a-record-100-billion.html
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/is-it-really-just-the-magnificent-7-propping-up-this-market
- https://www.investors.com/research/magnificent-seven-stocks-to-buy-and-and-watch/
- https://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/7-of-the-highest-stock-prices-in-history-brk-b-aapl-seb-nvr1114.aspx
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakesh_Jhunjhunwala
- https://www.tipranks.com/stocks/aapl/forecast
- https://www.trading212.com/learn/investing-101/greatest-investors
- https://inequality.org/great-divide/stock-ownership-concentration/
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/is-pfizer-stock-a-buy-near-10-year-lows-for-its-6-dividend-yield
- https://www.fidelity.ca/en/insights/articles/pull-money-or-keep-investing/
- https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-s-p-500-futures-inch-higher-as-ai-frenzy-continues/card/-magnificent-7-acting-more-like-magnificent-4-in-early-2024-zVAkRWLZy8issuPp7KMm?mod=mw_quote_news
- https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/pfe-stock
- https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/analysts-top-sandp-500-stocks-to-buy-now
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/overvalued.asp
- https://choiceindia.com/blog/10-best-shares-to-buy-today-for-long-term/
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/16-most-undervalued-growth-stocks-135418557.html
- https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20240323246/wall-street-revamps-2024-sp-500-targets-after-record-setting-stock-market-rally
- https://coinpriceforecast.com/pfizer
- https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/09/what-the-sp-500-at-5000-means-for-your-money.html
- https://www.ruleoneinvesting.com/blog/how-to-invest/when-should-you-sell-a-stock/
- https://www.investopedia.com/autozone-stock-gets-in-the-record-setting-zone-after-strong-results-8600955
- https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/reasons-shouldnt-check-investments-more-than-once-month-2021-11
- https://www.indiainfoline.com/markets/hot-stocks
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/the-most-successful-stocks-of-all-time
- https://www.investopedia.com/magnificent-seven-stocks-8402262
- https://www.tradingview.com/markets/stocks-usa/market-movers-losers/
- https://www.tickertape.in/blog/most-expensive-stocks-in-india/
- https://guides.bpl.org/oldstocks
- https://www.investors.com/news/technology/pfizer-stock-buy-now/
- https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-receives-all-required-regulatory-approvals-complete
- https://www.tradingview.com/markets/stocks-usa/market-movers-overbought/
- https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/most-expensive-stocks
- https://www.investors.com/etfs-and-funds/sectors/sp500-these-stocks-only-go-up-best/
- https://www.currentmarketvaluation.com/models/buffett-indicator.php
- https://coincodex.com/stock/PFE/price-prediction/
- https://www.koyfin.com/company/pfe/dividends/
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/13-best-major-stocks-buy-122146335.html
- https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/stocks/best-stocks-to-buy-now
- https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/best-stocks-to-buy-now/
- https://www.schwab.com/retirement-portfolio
- https://www.tipranks.com/stocks/wmt/forecast
- https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/pfe/analyst-research
- https://www.screener.in/screens/300202/stocks-with-good-1-month-returns/
- https://www.fool.com/investing/2024/02/07/get-rich-best-stocks-buy-now-hold-forever/
- https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/dividend-stocks-to-buy-and-hold-forever
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/bethkindig/2024/02/29/the-magnificent-7-are-falling-like-dominos-only-3-remain/
- https://www.bankrate.com/investing/low-risk-investments/
- https://rogermartin.medium.com/the-magnificent-seven-stocks-16f9fd03a5b3
- https://www.statmuse.com/money/ask/pfizer-stock-price-1995
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/4-predictions-for-the-stock-market-in-2024-and-which-stocks-will-soar-the-most-if-theyre
- https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/pfe/forecast/
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/top-10-highest-priced-stocks-153644605.html
- https://www.tipranks.com/stocks/nvda/forecast
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/062714/100-minus-your-age-outdated.asp
- https://upstox.com/learning-center/share-market/top-5-most-expensive-shares-stocks-in-the-world/
- https://www.indmoney.com/articles/top-5-stocks-to-invest
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Magical-Number-Seven-Plus-or-Minus-Two-Some-Limits-on-Our-Capacity-for-Processing-Information
- https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/best-inflation-stocks/
- https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/best-performing-stocks
- https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/types-of-stocks/safe-stocks/
- https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/sp-500-breaches-5000-its-valuation-hits-lofty-levels-well-2024-02-08/
- https://investorplace.com/2024/03/3-magnificent-7-stocks-that-arent-so-magnificent-after-all/
- https://www.tipranks.com/stocks/pfe/forecast
- https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/investing/best-stocks-for-beginners/
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/13-stocks-double-2024-153022696.html
- https://www.axios.com/2024/02/05/sp500-magnificent-seven-stock-market
- https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-the-investments-of-the-ultra-wealthy/
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/pfizers-problems-go-far-beyond-just-declining-covid-revenue
- https://www.bankrate.com/investing/best-performing-stocks/
- https://www.financestrategists.com/wealth-management/valuation/overvalued-stock/
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/the-sp-500-nears-5000-is-now-a-good-time-to-invest-in-stocks
- https://www.bankrate.com/investing/best-performing-stocks-over-past-decade/
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/13-safest-stocks-invest-080506736.html
- https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/07/stock-market-bubble-analysts-explain-why-theyre-not-worried.html
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pfizer-cheap-stock-lacking-catalyst-130003904.html
- https://www.litefinance.org/blog/analysts-opinions/tesla-stock-price-prediction/
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-safest-investment-highest-return-pqqcc
- https://finance.yahoo.com/most-active
- https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/AAPL/apple/stock-price-history