E-commerce stocks are expensive but have roaring growth rates

With the Q3 earnings season almost done and the Covid-19 pandemic still raging on across the globe it is time to look at e-commerce companies which got the biggest boost this year. We have identified 48 companies operating within e-commerce as their primary domain (see list at the bottom) with combined market value of $3.5trn representing around 6% of the global equity market. These companies are still growing rapidly with the average growth around 30% y/y based on their latest earnings reports. As a group e-commerce companies are still not delivering positive ROIC numbers but is primarily a function of a lot of smaller e-commerce companies focusing on revenue growth in stead of profitability. The average ROIC among the 10 largest e-commerce companies is around 5% impacted negatively by China-based Pinduoduo.

Analysts continue to be positive on the industry with the average price target being around 16% higher than the current price level. If this e-commerce group collectively delivers 16% over the next 12 months that is a very attractive return given the uncertainty in the economy. The high growth does not come cheap with the average valuation on 12-month forward EV/EBITDA being 69x or 5 times more expensive than the global equity market. But valuations shouldn't scare investors from investing in e-commerce companies. The lesson from Microsoft is that its stock was also 5 times more expensive than the US equity market in 1986 but has still managed to deliver 26.6% annualised return excluding dividends for its shareholders. The lesson is, that if you are picking tomorrow’s winners valuation means less as the market often undervalues the long-term compounding effects of a winning business.

Another important principle worth considering is the fact that per definition all the biggest companies in the equity market today, or at any given time, was a high-growth company and thus if you are long-term winner your objective should be to pick the long-term winners. Said in another way, long-term investors should focus on growth companies.

Source: Bloomberg and Saxo Group
* Region is the main geographical revenue segment, and global if geographical segments are almost equal