Celestica IncCLS.TOPARTIAL BUYJan 31, 2025Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Aug 12, 2026. Market Open.
In a massive growth segment, with the AI infrastructure buildout. Strategically in a very good position. If you have your heart set on this one, valuation is very reasonable at below 20x PE. Yet FCF is fairly meagre, which indicates valuation is still stretched. Watch and wait.
Instead, he uses TSM for client portfolios. Valuations in the space tend to be fairly rich. So this name isn't a buy today. Watch and wait.
Trades at 41x PE. It comes down to whether demand will continue to rise with AI spending. If so, profits will continue to be profitable with EPS to jump from $10 in 2026 to $15 in 2027, then $19 in 2028, then $26 in 2029. CLS comes down to how much you want to pay for it. Beta is a volatile 2.04, twice as much as the TSX. So, earnings is very important.
It's a manufacturing company. Can they continue to grow at this level and justify a high multiple? The market overestimates their earnings and margins. So when AI emerges, you see a strong pullback. Be cautious with stocks like this which aren't consistent over time. View their PE as a manufacturing and not a tech company.
Helps build hardware behind AI and cloud infrastructure. Massive growth. Revenue jumped more than 50% last quarter. Moving into products with better margins, increasingly important in AI supply chain.
Expectations are high. She sees upside potential of 30%, price target of ~$625. No dividend.
CLS traded at a forward P/E of below 10X for years until 2023 when its AI segment began generating significant growth. Its forward P/E has climbed to 24X, and for a company with steady margins and expecting to grow earnings in the 20%+ range for the next couple of years, we believe a forward P/E in the range of 20X to 25X makes sense. A 30X forward multiple could be justified if management guides for higher growth rates and it can execute on expanding its profit margins. Much of this also depends on the sustainability of the AI story and if we eventually witness a CAPEX down cycle for data centers and chips. Overall, we continue to like the name here.
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