Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd's (SHSE:688601) stock is up by a considerable 26% over the past week. Since the market usually pay for a company's long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company's key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. Specifically, we decided to study Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd's ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE can be calculated by using the formula:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd is:

9.4% = CN¥118m ÷ CN¥1.3b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CN¥1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CN¥0.09 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don't share these attributes.

Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd's Earnings Growth And 9.4% ROE

On the face of it, Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd's ROE is not much to talk about. However, the fact that the its ROE is quite higher to the industry average of 6.4% doesn't go unnoticed by us. Especially when you consider Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd's exceptional 22% net income growth over the past five years. Bear in mind, the company does have a moderately low ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is lower. Therefore, the growth in earnings could also be the result of other factors. Such as- high earnings retention or the company belonging to a high growth industry.

We then performed a comparison between Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd's net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 27% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd has a three-year median payout ratio of 29% (where it is retaining 71% of its income) which is not too low or not too high. So it seems that Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees impressive growth in its earnings (discussed above) and pays a dividend that's well covered.

While Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd has seen growth in its earnings, it only recently started to pay a dividend. It is most likely that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend. Looking at the current analyst consensus data, we can see that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 41% over the next three years. However, Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd's future ROE is expected to rise to 20% despite the expected increase in the company's payout ratio. We infer that there could be other factors that could be driving the anticipated growth in the company's ROE.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Wuxi ETEK MicroelectronicsLtd's performance. Specifically, we like that it has been reinvesting a high portion of its profits at a moderate rate of return, resulting in earnings expansion. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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.