Alcatel Lucent SA (ADR) (ALU), SUPERVALU INC. (SVU): Gross Margins, Employee-to-Sales & Share Price

1. Share price
It’s not a typo: Share price means absolutely nothing to investors — by itself. A company’s value in the stock market is determined by two key factors — share price and number of shares – and neither number means anything without the other.

Consider the two most valuable corporations in the world: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM). Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s $405 billion market cap beats out Apple by $3 billion, but shares of the oil company trade at just $90 compared with Apple’s $430. But value evens out when you account for the fact that Exxon investors collectively own 4.45 billion shares, while Apple’s allotted just 940 million.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s latest earnings report points to an additional share-price flaw. CEO Tim Cook announced that the company will devote $60 billion to share buybacks, the equivalent of 15% of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s current market cap. Shareholders will also enjoy larger dividend distributions, another value add that’s disconnected from share price.

All information is not created equal
There’s a lot of information out there, and it’s up to individual investors to use it wisely. Don’t be swayed by skewed statistics, and don’t be afraid to fall back on the fundamentals of investing. At the core of every purchase, we should be putting our money behind fairly priced companies with value-adding business models. If you can do that, you’ll be well on your way to pulling sizable and sustainable profits for your portfolio.

The article 3 Useless Stock Statistics You Need to Avoid originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Justin Loiseau.

Fool contributor Justin Loiseau owns shares of Apple and Whole Foods Market. You can follow him on Twitter, @TMFJLo, and on Motley Fool CAPS, @TMFJLo.The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Whole Foods Market; owns shares of Apple, SUPERVALU, and Whole Foods Market; and has options on Herbalife.

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