When close to half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 32x, you may consider INESA Intelligent Tech Inc. (SHSE:600602) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 75.7x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

With earnings that are retreating more than the market's of late, INESA Intelligent Tech has been very sluggish. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think the company will turn things around completely and accelerate past most others in the market. If not, then existing shareholders may be very nervous about the viability of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for INESA Intelligent Tech

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

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

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 23%. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 13% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 28% during the coming year according to the only analyst following the company. With the market predicted to deliver 43% growth , the company is positioned for a weaker earnings result.

With this information, we find it concerning that INESA Intelligent Tech is trading at a P/E higher than the market. It seems most investors are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects, but the analyst cohort is not so confident this will happen. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as this level of earnings growth is likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.

What We Can Learn From INESA Intelligent Tech's P/E?

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

Our examination of INESA Intelligent Tech's analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook isn't impacting its high P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted. Right now we are increasingly uncomfortable with the high P/E as the predicted future earnings aren't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. Unless these conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 1 warning sign for INESA Intelligent Tech that you should be aware of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on INESA Intelligent 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.