By ben graham's stan-dards, Pfizer, Forbes' Company of the Year (Jan. 11). is no bargain. It recently traded at 60 times estimated 1998 earnings and 16 times its book value per share. But you can make the case that Pfizer's not so wildly overpriced with a little conservative tweaking of the numbers. What if you ignore accounting rules requiring Pfizer's r&d spending to be expensed right away and treat it more like an investment in an asset generating wealth over the next five years? Pfizer suddenly appears to be trading hands at 48 times earnings, some 20% cheaper, and at 12 times book.
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