Price/Peak Cash Flow
Valuations And The Earnings Recovery
Analysts at Standard & Poor’s will soon confirm what’s been known for several months: The earnings downturn associated with the COVID recession was the shallowest and shortest of any recession-related EPS decline.
The Earnings Recession Is History
We expected that the earnings recovery from the shortest-ever U.S. recession would be the fastest on record. Trailing figures for the MSCI USA Index now confirm this: Trailing EPS and Cash Flow Per Share have surged to new highs only 14 months after their March 2020 peaks.
EAFE And EM: Long Past Their “Peaks?”
We applied the “Peak Cash Flow” valuation methodology to the EAFE and MSCI Emerging Markets Index and found them both priced at only about one-half of today’s MSCI U.S. multiple. However, the ratios are already above anything achieved during the 2009-2020 global bull market.
A Pricey Alternative To The S&P 500?
This month we focus on the valuations of the MSCI USA Index—which is nearly identical to the S&P 500. This is worth following mainly because the folks at MSCI are kind enough to provide us with much longer-term histories of Cash Flow and Book Value Per Share.
Normalize This!
The sell-side is at it again, publishing a one-year ahead “Adjusted” EPS figure for the S&P 500 that is unlikely to be achieved—and then affixing P/E multiples seen near an historic market peak to “capitalize” on those unlikely earnings.