If eight is a lucky number in China, then eighty-eight must be doubly so. Not for some investors in BYD, the Chinese handset, car and electric vehicle maker, whose share price peaked at that level in 2009. It now trades at $50. For Warren Buffett, however, who bought one-tenth of the company at $8 per share in 2008, fortune has indeed been kind.
But while BYD has delivered good stock performance for Mr Buffett, the company’s operations have been less stellar. Earnings per share peaked in 2010 at $1.77. By 2013 they were only one-fifth of that, equal to the level the year Mr Buffett bought in.
And the company (with a market capitalisation of $18bn) is not cheap against forecasts, at 50 times 2015 earnings. Carmakers Great Wall ($14bn) and Geely ($3bn) trade around seven times. Even on earnings for 2017, BYD trades on 17 times.