MNC stocks trading at all-time high valuations, time to stay selective

With half the listed MNC stocks trading near their all-time high valuations, experts say it's time for investors to cherry pick from the lot

Hamsini Karthik | Mumbai
Last Updated at April 24, 2019 22:23 IST

Stocks of multinational companies (MNCs) such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Siemens, ABB, Bata India, Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals, Bosch, Pfizer and 3M India are trading at near their all-time highs. Valuations, too, have accordingly sky-rocketed and a majority of them – about 30 out of 43 MNC stocks listed in the bourses - are trading at about life-time high valuations. Priced at over 50x trailing earnings, experts say the bets are quite high on the MNC names, especially those in the consumer staples, healthcare and engineering baskets. “MNC stocks have always been expensive compared to their domestic peers for their branding and intellectual property acquired from their parent companies,” says Pankaj Pandey, head of research at ICICI Direct.

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