Wednesday, December 6, 2017

A Drawn-Out Reset Of Expectations Should Lead To Better Days For Lenovo Shares

Lenovo's (OTCPK:LNVGY) bold and controversial decisions to try to work its PC magic in the mobile handset and server markets has thus far proved the doubters right. Margins have eroded since the acquisition of IBM's (IBM) x86 server business and Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Motorola business, and the share price has fallen by two-thirds from its mid-2015 high as investors have grown weary of the delays in transforming the acquired businesses into profitable contributors and grown more concerned about the long-term health of the PC business.

There are still valid reasons to worry that Lenovo shares could be a value trap, but expectations have been beaten down to a low bar. Lenovo's strategy to target higher-performance, higher-value markets in mobile and servers is a break with the company's past, but a logical one. What's more, management has not had to surrender much market share in PCs in its effort to support margins.

If Lenovo can grow revenue at a long-term rate between 2% and 3% and pull its adjusted free cash flow margins back up into the 2%-3% range, a fair value in the range of $15 to $17 still makes sense, even with a double-digit discount rate. The key question, though, remains whether or not the company can turn its mobile and server businesses into positive contributors (and/or jettison them) and restore investor confidence in Lenovo's business model and strategy.

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A Drawn-Out Reset Of Expectations Should Lead To Better Days For Lenovo Shares

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