With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 61.5x Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUPN) may be sending very bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 16x and even P/E's lower than 9x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times haven't been advantageous for Supernus Pharmaceuticals as its earnings have been falling quicker than most other companies. It might be that many expect the dismal earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. If not, then existing shareholders may be very nervous about the viability of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Supernus Pharmaceuticals

How Is Supernus Pharmaceuticals' Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Supernus Pharmaceuticals would need to produce outstanding growth well in excess of the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 33% decrease to the company's bottom line. This means it has also seen a slide in earnings over the longer-term as EPS is down 81% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the four analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 32% per annum over the next three years. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 12% each year growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we can see why Supernus Pharmaceuticals is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

What We Can Learn From Supernus Pharmaceuticals' P/E?

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

We've established that Supernus Pharmaceuticals maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

The company's balance sheet is another key area for risk analysis. Our free balance sheet analysis for Supernus Pharmaceuticals with six simple checks will allow you to discover any risks that could be an issue.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.