Equity Strategy: Where is overvaluation? Not in Mag-7, at least not relatively… it is Cyclicals that appear stretched

Speaker: Mislav Matejka, CFA, Head of Global Equity Strategy

We favoured Growth over Value style through last year, and again so far ytd, arguing that the Nov-Dec Value rally – such as an outperformance of BKX and of small caps seen at the time – was unlikely to last. There is a clear concern over how sustainable the Mag -7 run is, but we note that this group of stocks is not trading increasingly more expensive, at least not in relative terms. In fact, Mag-7 stocks appear cheaper at present vs the rest of the market than they were trading on average in the past five years. Admittedly, in absolute terms, there appears to be an excess, and Mag-7 could see earnings disappointments as well, proving to be more cyclical. More broadly, Growth style is also supported by the continued better earnings delivery vs Value, and this is the reason we keep the Growth style preference. Where valuations are becoming stretched is in Cyclical sector groups, with European Cyclicals trading at more than one standard deviation expensive vs Defensives. Cyclicals in general are at price relative highs vs Defensives, as high as in ’09-’10, when the synchronized global recovery did materialize. Such an acceleration might be the wrong template this time around. The link between Cyclicals/Defensives earnings and indicators such as IFO remains strong, with IFO leading, and it suggests that Cyclicals earnings are set to soften over the next few quarters, in contrast to the consensus calling for an acceleration. In addition, bond yields are set to inflect lower again, we called in March Chartbook last week for a return to the long duration trade, and this could take out some relative support from Cyclicals.

This podcast was recorded on 10 March 2024.

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