Most investors have heard the term “value trap”. Indeed, if you’re a value-inclined investor, you’ve probably heard it rather more often than you’d like over the last few years. A value trap is a stock that looks cheap (usually based on a “fundamental” measure such as the price/book ratio) and ripe for a turnaround at any minute, but which simply keeps underperforming. Value traps can do a lot of harm to a portfolio and they are plentiful, says Ben Inker of US asset manager GMO. Inker defines a “trap” as a stock which has missed its revenue expectations in the past 12 months and has also warned on its future sales outlook. In a typical year, nearly a third of the stocks in the MSCI USA value index turn out to be value traps. On average they underperform the index by 9%. So it’s easy to see why the term is so well known. Investors are far less familiar with the idea of a “growth trap”.
A growth trap is just a growth stock (a stock which looks expensive but appears to be growing rapidly enough to justify the premium valuation) which misses its forecasts in the same way. These are, says Inker, even more common and even more damaging than value traps. In any given year, about 37% of the MSCI USA Growth index fall into the category, with an average underperformance of 13%. A good recent example is Snap, which owns social media app Snapchat. Snap saw its share price drop by about 45% in a day last week, after it warned that advertising revenue would be at the lower end of expectations and that the outlook for the wider economy was deteriorating rapidly. The stock is now down about 85% on its 2021 peak.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Yet for those thinking of going bargain hunting, Inker notes that – while they’ve started to lose some of their premium rating – growth stocks remain very expensive relative to value stocks compared to history. That in turn implies, he says, that we can expect to see more “growth trap” collapses “in the next year than there were in the last one”. In other words, remain wary of expensive stocks that are still pricing in lots of growth – and hang on to your value stocks.
For more on the topic, see:
Value is starting to emerge in the markets
Has growth investing had its day? Don’t be so sure
-
How inheritance tax trick is helping families save ‘six-figure sums’Happy to skip a generation to save thousands on inheritance tax? A deed of variation could be the estate planning tool you need.
-
Nationwide: House prices unexpectedly dropped in AugustHouse prices fell by 0.1% in August in a surprise drop, according to Nationwide, as “affordability remains stretched”
-
Are wealthy whisky enthusiasts leaving Britain?Collectables Wealthy whisky enthusiasts are heading to tax-friendly countries such as Dubai, where there is more disposable income to spend on collectable luxuries like rare whisky.
-
'The rise and fall of Kodak is a lesson for the tech giants'Opinion The long decline of Kodak – a once-dominant company – shows why no business is safe from disruption, says Matthew Lynn
-
8 of the best properties for sale with kitchen gardensThe best properties for sale with kitchen gardens – from a 17th-century timber-framed hall house in Norfolk, to an Arts & Crafts house in West Sussex designed by Charles Voysey with a garden by Gertrude Jekyll
-
Why investors can no longer trust traditional statistical indicatorsOpinion The statistical indicators and data investors have relied on for decades are no longer fit for purpose. It's time to move on, says Helen Thomas
-
Investors rediscover the virtue of value investing over growthGrowth investing, betting on rapidly expanding companies, has proved successful since 2008. But now the other main investment style seems to be coming back into fashion.
-
8 of the best properties for sale with shooting estatesThe best properties for sale with shooting estates – from an estate in a designated Dark Sky area in Ayrshire, Scotland, to a hunting estate in Tuscany with a wild boar, mouflon, deer and hare shoot
-
The most likely outcome of the AI boom is a big fallOpinion Like the dotcom boom of the late 1990s, AI is not paying off – despite huge investments being made in the hope of creating AI-based wealth
-
What we can learn from Britain’s "Dashing Dozen" stocksStocks that consistently outperform the market are clearly doing something right. What can we learn from the UK's top performers and which ones are still buys?
