Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd's (SZSE:301266) stock is up by a considerable 35% over the past month. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. In this article, we decided to focus on Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd's ROE.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for return on equity is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd is:

4.9% = CN¥80m ÷ CN¥1.6b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CN¥1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CN¥0.05 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd's Earnings Growth And 4.9% ROE

At first glance, Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd's ROE doesn't look very promising. A quick further study shows that the company's ROE doesn't compare favorably to the industry average of 6.5% either. Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd was still able to see a decent net income growth of 17% over the past five years. So, the growth in the company's earnings could probably have been caused by other variables. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

We then compared Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd's net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 5.0% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. 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 Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

In Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd's case, its respectable earnings growth can probably be explained by its low three-year median payout ratio of 17% (or a retention ratio of 83%), which suggests that the company is investing most of its profits to grow its business.

Along with seeing a growth in earnings, Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd only recently started paying dividends. Its quite possible that the company was looking to impress its shareholders.

Summary

Overall, we feel that Suzhou YourBest New-type MaterialsLtd certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.