Should You Buy The Beaten Down Blue-Chip Stocks?

• (0:15) - Beaten Down Blue Chip Stocks: Are They A Value?
• (2:00) - Tracey's Top Stock Picks
• (11:40) - Ticker Recap and Extra Tips
• (13:35) - Episode Roundup: Podcast@Zacks.com

Welcome to Episode #69 of the Value Investor Podcast

Every week, Tracey Ryniec, the editor of Zacks Value Investor portfolio service, shares some of her top value investing tips and stock picks.

Not everything is gumdrops and roses for every stock right now, despite the indexes hitting new all-time highs.

Some large cap names have sold off in 2017, including a couple that have hit multi-year lows.

Tracey hears a lot of people calling those stocks “value” stocks, but are they? Does a sell-off in the shares automatically make it a value?

Value Stocks Are More Than the Chart

Tracey has done podcasts on value stocks that were breaking out, so the chart isn’t the end all, be all, of value investing.

Value investors buy stocks trading at a discount to their earnings. Therefore, earnings are the key. Are they rising or falling? Investors need to know avoid the “value trap” scenario where a stock appears cheap, but that’s because the earnings are on the decline.

Tracey took a look at five blue chip stocks that have been in the news recently, mostly for their weak stocks.

Are These 5 Blue Chip Stocks Value Stocks?

1. General Electric (NYSE:GE) has plunged to 5-year lows. Surely, with all the bad news that’s there, including a dividend cut, there must be some value, right? However, it’s forward P/E is 17.2, which still isn’t that cheap. What does the earnings forecast reveal?

2. Macy’s (NYSE:M) is dirt cheap. It trades with a forward P/E of just 5.9. Shares are down 43% this year, however, on worries that the department stores are doomed. But are the earnings estimates really signaling the end is near?

3. Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) was weak through May and has since rallied. Shares, however, are still well under the 2015 highs. It trades with an attractive forward P/E of 14.3 but does it have the earnings growth to get the thumbs up?

4. Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) is still down over 20% year-to-date and near 5-year lows. But are the shares cheap enough, and the earnings growing fast enough, to qualify it for the coveted value stock designation?

5. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) shares are weak compared to the S&P 500. Exxon is down 11% year-to-date, but are off their 2017 lows. With crude hanging out above $50 pretty consistently, are the oil stock earnings finally showing a rebound?

Remember, the Price-to-Earnings ratio is predicated on both price AND earnings. Value investors need to check those earnings before deciding that a stock is “cheap.”

What else should you know about beaten down blue-chip stocks?

Listen to this week’s podcast to find out.

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