Seeking Alpha: Komatsu Lacking A Spark

There's really not much good news to celebrate among the makers of heavy machinery for construction and mining. Joy Global (NYSE:JOY) has been pummeled over the last year, and Komatsu (OTCPK:KMTUY), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Sany, Hitachi Construction (OTCPK:HTCMY), Sandvik (OTCPK:SDVKY), and Atlas Copco (OTCPK:ATLKY) all pretty much occupy the same real estate in the down 20%-30% range. In fact, most of these companies' shares have pretty closely tracked the CRB Index down over the past 12 months.

I continue to think that Komatsu is a strong company within the heavy machinery sector, but it rarely makes a lot of sense to buy the best house on the block when the entire neighborhood is in flames. To that end, it's hard to look past the ongoing declines in machine utilization in Japan, China, and North America and the grim outlook for mining capital spending. While Komatsu shares do seem undervalued based on prior valuation ranges, it's hard for me to see what drives better earnings and more investor interest in the near term.

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Komatsu Lacking A Spark