With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 73.4x Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) 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 18x and even P/E's lower than 10x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so lofty.

Boston Scientific certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. The P/E is probably high because investors think this strong earnings performance will continue. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The High P/E?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as steep as Boston Scientific's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market decidedly.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 48% gain to the company's bottom line. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 57% overall rise in EPS, aided by its short-term performance. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 28% per annum over the next three years. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 11% per annum growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we can see why Boston Scientific is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Final Word

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.

We've established that Boston Scientific maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. You can assess many of the main risks through our free balance sheet analysis for Boston Scientific with six simple checks.

If you're unsure about the strength of Boston Scientific's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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