Is It Time To Consider Buying lastminute.com N.V. (VTX:LMN)?

lastminute.com N.V. (VTX:LMN), is not the largest company out there, but it received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the SWX over the last few months, increasing to CHF20.00 at one point, and dropping to the lows of CHF15.82. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether lastminute.com's current trading price of CHF16.04 reflective of the actual value of the small-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at lastminute.com’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

See our latest analysis for lastminute.com

What's The Opportunity In lastminute.com?

According to our price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. We’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 19.08x is currently trading slightly above its industry peers’ ratio of 17.98x, which means if you buy lastminute.com today, you’d be paying a relatively sensible price for it. And if you believe lastminute.com should be trading in this range, then there isn’t really any room for the share price grow beyond the levels of other industry peers over the long-term. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since lastminute.com’s share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What does the future of lastminute.com look like?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. lastminute.com's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 53%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? LMN’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at LMN? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on LMN, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for LMN, which means it’s worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

If you want to dive deeper into lastminute.com, you'd also look into what risks it is currently facing. At Simply Wall St, we found 2 warning signs for lastminute.com and we think they deserve your attention.

If you are no longer interested in lastminute.com, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.