To the annoyance of some shareholders, Sino Wealth Electronic Ltd. (SZSE:300327) shares are down a considerable 34% in the last month, which continues a horrid run for the company. For any long-term shareholders, the last month ends a year to forget by locking in a 66% share price decline.

Although its price has dipped substantially, Sino Wealth Electronic's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 43.2x might still make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in China, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 26x and even P/E's below 16x are quite common. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Sino Wealth Electronic has been struggling lately as its earnings have declined faster than most other companies. 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. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Is There Enough Growth For Sino Wealth Electronic?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Sino Wealth Electronic would need to produce outstanding growth well in excess of the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 73% decrease to the company's bottom line. This means it has also seen a slide in earnings over the longer-term as EPS is down 47% in total over the last three years. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the seven analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 154% over the next year. With the market only predicted to deliver 41%, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

With this information, we can see why Sino Wealth Electronic 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.

What We Can Learn From Sino Wealth Electronic's P/E?

Even after such a strong price drop, Sino Wealth Electronic's P/E still exceeds the rest of the market significantly. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

We've established that Sino Wealth Electronic 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. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

You need to take note of risks, for example - Sino Wealth Electronic has 3 warning signs (and 2 which are a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Sino Wealth Electronic. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.