To paraphrase a long-time reader, it’s worth asking if Roper (ROP) is more wily or Wile E. Coyote – is this M&A-driven decentralized growth model truly something special (and something sustainable), or has valuation run off the cliff with nothing left to support it other than the fact investors haven’t yet looked down?
Valuation is never an exact process, but I do think Roper is more the former (a special company/model) than the latter (a sentiment-driven future trainwreck). Roper doesn’t buy growth so much as it buys market share, moats, and margins (three