Question is whether this is a good price to buy.
Their stock is still not extraordinarily cheap -- PE is about 19. It has dropped from about 87 to 75 recently. Low was upper 50s about a year ago. High about 130 in early 07.
http://j.mp/9I75AATechnically it still looks in a downtrend -- for example, the 13- and 50-day moving averages have crossed. Volume on the recent gains has been low, while down volume has been out of the park -- that's negative. The last few days have been gains, but it's below the moving averages, which means so far it's just a retracement, which can precede another drop.
On one hand, it might be worth waiting for a better price. The negative publicity won't last forever -- but if consumers start shunning the Toyota brand, there could be some negative surprises ahead. Sales volume was down 16% from a year ago, which in combination with the recalls seems like it would result in a much bigger decline. Again, doesn't seem like a tremendous bargain given its troubles.
On the other hand, stock movement tends to precede news, so getting in ahead of public sentiment is the only way to make money. Toyota might be one of those well-regarded companies that can withstand a lot and never sell at a bargain.
Maybe it's worth buying a little now and putting in a bigger order at a lower price. That's sometimes a winning strategy. But who knows -- I'm no good at stocks.