Comparative Analysis: Value Investing vs Growth Investing

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Value Investing and Growth Investing are two of the most popular ways of investment. Both these strategies have been used by several ace investors to build their wealth. In this article we will explore these two ways of investment in a detailed perspective:

Value Investing
Value investing has been one of the most favored strategies used by long term investors. The basic idea of value investing is to buy stocks at valuations less that the intrinsic value. This is in contrary to the belief that stocks priced in all the information that is available and also events that are likely to occur in future. The value investor looks for differences between the market price and the intrinsic value of the stock.
The earliest concept of value investing …show more content…

However, whether the tide will continue to bloom will decide the fate of the investor.

Some important points of growth investing:
1. Check the earnings history- The earnings per share (EPS) of the stock over the last few years can give a good idea of how the company has been doing. The growth in EPS can reflect the growth story of the underlying company.
2. Estimating forward earnings- Since the idea is to identify growth, the analysis of forward earnings is very important. The investor can use the research reports of various brokerage houses and then do a bit of research himself/herself for this. Generally small caps and midcaps show greater growth prospects than large caps though they carry more risk.
3. Competitive Advantage- When looking for growth specific stocks it often good to buy stocks which have a dominant presence in their area of operation. Companies which have patents over certain technologies or ideas often prove to have a high competitive advantage. Companies facing high competition often face high pricing pressures and in turn the growth outlook faces lack of …show more content…

Good management- Efficiency of the company’s management is perhaps the most important factor when choosing growth stocks. Ultimately, it is the management which decides the policies of the company.
5. Government policies- It is extremely important to keep a track of how the government policies’ would impact the company of the underlying stock. Often the government looks to give certain sector incentives or tax benefits which in turn give a positive outlook to the companies which operate in the sector.

Growth investing v/s Value investing
Growth investing is a strategy in which investors select stocks of companies that are expected to have a high growth rate. They expected the stocks of the companies to outperform the market and in the process achieve capital gains.
Value investing, is a strategy in which investors select stocks of companies that are assumed to be trading a discount to the intrinsic value. For this metric such as a company’s price-to-book ratio or price-to-earnings ratio is used in order to estimate a company’s worth.

Some great investors
Philip Fisher was one of the greatest investors in the world who followed the growth investing philosophy. Fisher began his career on Wall Street in September 1929 one month before the beginning of the Great Depression. In 1931 he started his own investment firm, Fisher & Co. The firm followed a growth investing

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