Topic: Growth Stocks

Toyota Motor Corp. ADRs $104 – New York symbol TM

TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. ADRs $104 (New York symbol TM, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $187.2 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) is the world’s second-largest car maker after General Motors. Each Toyota ADR represents two of Toyota’s common shares.

The company spends about 4% of its revenue on research. This spending has helped Toyota take the lead in several new automotive technologies, including the hybrid gasoline/electric engine.

Thanks to surging fuel prices, demand for hybrid vehicles is rising strongly. The company is also earning money by licensing its hybrid technology to other automakers. Toyota is now working on a hybrid car that users can recharge by plugging it into a household electrical outlet. That would give the electrical motor greater range, reducing the need to use the gasoline engine for short trips.

In its third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2007, earnings rose 4.9%, to $2.37 per ADR from $2.26 per ADR a year earlier. Sales grew 21.7%, to $60.0 billion from $49.3 billion. Toyota should earn $10.63 per ADR in fiscal 2008, which gives it a p/e of 9.8. The $1.25 dividend yields 1.2%.

Toyota is down from its peak of $138 in March 2007. That’s mainly due to the weakening U.S. dollar, which makes imports from Japan more expensive for U.S. consumers. While Toyota has expanded its North American assembly operations to reduce its currency risk, these plants account for less than half its North American sales. Fears of a slowing U.S. economy have also weighed on the stock.

However, North America accounts for just 30% of Toyota’s overall sales. Strong demand in emerging markets such as China, Indonesia and Thailand should help offset weaker U.S. sales.

Toyota is a buy.

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