Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT), is not the largest company out there, but it saw a significant share price rise of 27% in the past couple of months on the NASDAQGS. The recent rally in share prices has nudged the company in the right direction, though it still falls short of its yearly peak. With many analysts covering the stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock's share price. However, what if the stock is still a bargain? Today we will analyse the most recent data on Harmonic's outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists.

What Is Harmonic Worth?

Good news, investors! Harmonic is still a bargain right now according to our price multiple model, which compares the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. In this instance, we've used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock's cash flows. we find that Harmonic's ratio of 17.19x is below its peer average of 32.2x, which indicates the stock is trading at a lower price compared to the Communications industry. Another thing to keep in mind is that Harmonic's share price is quite stable relative to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. This means that if you believe the current share price should move towards its industry peers, a low beta could suggest it is not likely to reach that level anytime soon, and once it's there, it may be hard to fall back down into an attractive buying range again.

What does the future of Harmonic look like?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you're looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let's also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to grow by 34% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Harmonic. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? Since HLIT is currently trading below the industry PE ratio, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. With a positive profit outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as financial health to consider, which could explain the current price multiple.

Are you a potential investor? If you've been keeping an eye on HLIT for a while, now might be the time to enter the stock. Its prosperous future profit outlook isn't fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means it's not too late to buy HLIT. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to make a well-informed assessment.

In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. While conducting our analysis, we found that Harmonic has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

If you are no longer interested in Harmonic, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.