China Science Publishing & Media Ltd. (SHSE:601858) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 34% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 94%.

Following the firm bounce in price, given close to half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 29x, you may consider China Science Publishing & Media as a stock to avoid entirely with its 47.2x P/E ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

Recent times have been pleasing for China Science Publishing & Media as its earnings have risen in spite of the market's earnings going into reverse. It seems that many are expecting the company to continue defying the broader market adversity, which has increased investors' willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

How Is China Science Publishing & Media's Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the market for P/E ratios like China Science Publishing & Media's to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, we see that there was hardly any earnings per share growth to speak of for the company over the past year. Whilst it's an improvement, it wasn't enough to get the company out of the hole it was in, with earnings down 1.2% overall from three years ago. 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 13% during the coming year according to the one analyst following 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 alarming that China Science Publishing & Media's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. 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.

The Bottom Line On China Science Publishing & Media's P/E

China Science Publishing & Media's P/E is flying high just like its stock has during the last month. 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 China Science Publishing & Media'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. This places shareholders' investments at significant risk and potential investors in danger of paying an excessive premium.

Having said that, be aware China Science Publishing & Media is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis, you should know about.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.