Analysis of Investment in Equity: Value or Growth Investing?

Mr. TVK Vivek Kumar, Managing Partner at Bestpals Research and Advisory LLP, was searching for investment opportunities during the lockdown period following COVID-19. The stock markets witnessed a crash and most stocks were trading at decade-low prices. Mr. Kumar identified this as an opportunity for investment and wealth creation. He started scanning the stocks related to different sectors like Retail, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, E-commerce, and soon discovered the agricultural equipment and machinery sector stocks may offer attractive opportunities. He collected data related to the agricultural machinery sector and details of Indian companies operating in the Agricultural Machinery and Farm equipment sector. After reviewing the company profiles, he concluded that Escorts Ltd. and VST Tillers Tractors Ltd. were less diversified companies that mostly focused on manufacturing agricultural equipment. Upon analyzing the financial performance of the two companies, he was unable to decide which of these two companies for investments had the potential to deliver better returns. The goal was to identify Value or Growth stocks for a short-term investment horizon of 12–18 months, as he had no idea what the long-term outlook might be in the post-COVID-19 era.