The hope of profits and the joy of ownership make buying stocks a fairly simple decision, especially in comparison to the tormented hair-pulling that’s often associated with selling.
When to jettison a stock is a difficult decision, so we won’t pretend there’s a one-size-fits-all formula. However, guidelines can make selling decisions easier. The following are four key factors in any sell considerations.
1. Valuation
The most cited reason to sell — a fairly valued stock — is also the most difficult to nail down.
You should estimate the fair value of a company before plunking money down to buy, determining intrinsic value by digging into financial statements, analyzing business prospects and free cash flow, and making conservative assumptions about future growth.
Buying undervalued stocks, wait patiently for a price that’s close to your estimate of fair value, reassess at that point, and then ruthlessly sell if the stock looks fairly priced. One challenge is overcoming your attachment to the stock — everyone loves a winner — and the dream that it will go up indefinitely. That said, decisions based just on valuation can mislead you sometimes. If valuation on a leading business is perplexing you, you may consider selling just some of your shares (to lock in profits) or protecting your gains through other means (including options), and then consider other factors that may influence a sell decision.
2. Fundamental change in the underlying business
Companies are always undergoing change — sometimes for the better, often not. As patient investors, be willing to tolerate minor, fixable hiccups along the lines of a weak quarter or delayed product launch. Don’t be so forgiving of major blunders — think acquisitions that undermine the core business, getting surpassed by a competitor, taking on unproductive debt, or a string of failed new product attempts. Whenever a business undergoes a significant change, you need to put on your thinking cap and reassess.
3. Challenges to your investing thesis
When you make a buy decision, you should write down your reasons and keep them handy. Knowing the most important drivers behind your buys, you can reassess your decision if any part of your thesis is challenged.
Because valuation is part of any thesis, threatening changes can include dividend cuts, deterioration of margins, weakening free cash flow — or economic shifts. Keep the big picture in mind. What’s the thesis behind each stock you own? Write it down.
4. Better places for your money
Sometimes a sell decision has little to do with the holding itself — you may simply see better opportunities elsewhere and lack the funds to take advantage. Just as a soccer coach will swap tired players for fresh ones in order to win the game, your portfolio can benefit from shuffling some players, too.
