A traditional analyst does not ask “is Apple cheaper than Samsung?” They ask whether the multiple is justified by growth, returns, and risk. That method is comparable company analysis (comps / relative valuation). Damodaran’s version: every multiple has a companion variable; if the gap in the multiple is not explained by that companion, one name is mispriced.
Apple vs Samsung is a good warning. They compete in phones, but Samsung’s earnings are mostly memory/semiconductor cycle, Apple’s are hardware + high-margin services. TradingKey and Multiples.vc treat them as different stories. Same product rivalry ≠ same stock comps.
The numbers they actually throw around
They never quote a multiple alone. It is always price / quality.
| What they say | Number | Companion they check |
|---|---|---|
| How expensive is the equity? | Forward P/E (NTM), trailing P/E | Expected EPS growth → PEG (P/E ÷ growth). Damodaran: PEG assumes a linear PE/growth link and same risk; he calls that a stretch. |
| How expensive is the whole firm? | EV/EBITDA, EV/EBIT | ROIC, reinvestment, tax, WACC. Default industrial multiple because it ignores capital structure. |
| Growth / unprofitable names | EV/Sales | Net or operating margin (high sales multiple only OK if margins are high). |
| Balance-sheet businesses | P/B | ROE |
| Cash story | FCF yield, EV/FCF | FCF conversion / FCF margin |
| Income story | Dividend yield | Payout vs growth (high yield can mean a slow or dying business) |
| Quality | Operating margin, ROIC vs WACC | Why one name “deserves” a higher multiple |
Institutional comps tables show LTM and NTM, then min / 25th / median / 75th / max. Median, not mean. Then: “it trades at 22× forward vs a 15× peer median — is growth/ROIC enough to justify that?”
Trefis on AAPL is the typical one-liner: richest P/E in the group, mid-pack growth, strong but not unique margins.
For phones specifically they also use unit share, ASP, and mix (services %). Those are not stock-tape numbers.
What this website already has
On each related name we show a quote snapshot:
- Forward P/E, trailing P/E
- EPS TTM (and forward EPS)
- Price to book
- Market cap
- Dividend yield / rate
- Price, 52-week range, 50/200-day averages
What this website doesn't have
We do not have a full comps stack: no revenue, growth, EBITDA, enterprise value, EV/EBITDA, EV/Sales, margins, ROIC/ROE, FCF, net debt, or consensus growth (aside from the thin forward P/E and forward EPS pair). You cannot honestly say “this one is cheap on EV/EBITDA” or compute PEG without an expected growth rate.
So today each related name can show a short quote snapshot: forward P/E, trailing P/E, P/B, yield, market cap. That is morning-note language, not a full analyst spread.
A fundamentals and estimates feed would fill the rest. That is not on the quote snapshot today.