Hangzhou XZB Tech Co., Ltd (SHSE:603040) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 29% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. The bad news is that even after the stocks recovery in the last 30 days, shareholders are still underwater by about 3.5% over the last year.

Even after such a large jump in price, given about half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 30x, you may still consider Hangzhou XZB Tech as an attractive investment with its 16.3x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

With its earnings growth in positive territory compared to the declining earnings of most other companies, Hangzhou XZB Tech has been doing quite well of late. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think the company's earnings are going to fall away like everyone else's soon. If not, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as low as Hangzhou XZB Tech's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 14% gain to the company's bottom line. The latest three year period has also seen a 18% overall rise in EPS, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing earnings over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 28% as estimated by the three analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 41% growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's understandable that Hangzhou XZB Tech's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

What We Can Learn From Hangzhou XZB Tech's P/E?

Hangzhou XZB Tech's stock might have been given a solid boost, but its P/E certainly hasn't reached any great heights. While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Hangzhou XZB Tech's analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook is contributing to its low P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for Hangzhou XZB Tech that you need to take into consideration.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Hangzhou XZB Tech, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.