I feel like if I see one more comment claiming that "forward PE is always low at the peak of the cycle", I’m going to lose my mind. You guys are spreading this foolish mantra all over Reddit, infecting uninformed people like a virus, who then go on to parrot it looking wise, without even understanding basic fundamentals.
Forward PE is never low at the peak of a cycle, only trailing PE is.
The reason for this is simple: when a company is at the top of its cycle, its TTM earnings are at record highs. At the same time, analysts aware that the peak has been reached and update their forecasts downward, triggering a sell-off in the stock. Consequently, a low stock price divided by record past earnings yields a low PE ratio. That is what's called trailing PE.
If, on the other hand, we have a low forward PE, the situation is completely reversed: the current stock price is too low relative to future earnings. Either analysts are wrong, or the stock is undervalued.
Stop confusing the two!