Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS), might not be a large cap stock, but it received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NASDAQGS over the last few months, increasing to US$111 at one point, and dropping to the lows of US$92.84. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Plexus' current trading price of US$95.43 reflective of the actual value of the mid-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let's take a look at Plexus's outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

What's The Opportunity In Plexus?

The share price seems sensible at the moment according to our price multiple model, where we compare 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 Plexus's ratio of 20.89x is trading slightly above its industry peers' ratio of 19.54x, which means if you buy Plexus today, you'd be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. And if you believe that Plexus should be trading at this level in the long run, then there should only be a fairly immaterial downside vs other industry peers. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Plexus's share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What kind of growth will Plexus generate?

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. Although value investors would argue that it's the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by 45% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Plexus. 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? It seems like the market has already priced in PLXS's positive outlook, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven't considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at PLXS? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If you've been keeping tabs on PLXS, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for PLXS, which means it's worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

So if you'd like to dive deeper into this stock, it's crucial to consider any risks it's facing. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Plexus and you'll want to know about it.

If you are no longer interested in Plexus, 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.