Energy drink veteran Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST) is trading 14% higher year to date. That's a 49% rebound from the lows in March and the stock comes with pricey valuation ratios such as 35 times trailing earnings and 10 times the company's book value. Is Monster a buy at these high prices?
Let's start with the company's financial stability. Monster has $935 million of cash and short-term investments on hand and the balance sheet hasn't seen a nickel of long-term debt since 2011. It would take a long period of cash-burning market disruption to bring Monster to its knees.
I don't know about you, but I don't get a sense of impending doom from Monster's long-term sales and cash-generation trends: