Jiaxing ZMAX Optech Co., Ltd. (SHSE:688307) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 31% after a shaky period beforehand. Not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 32% in the last twelve months.

Following the firm bounce in price, Jiaxing ZMAX Optech's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 53.6x might 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 32x and even P/E's below 20x are quite common. 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.

As an illustration, earnings have deteriorated at Jiaxing ZMAX Optech over the last year, which is not ideal at all. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think the company will still do enough to outperform the broader market in the near future. If not, then existing shareholders may be quite nervous about the viability of the share price.

How Is Jiaxing ZMAX Optech's Growth Trending?

Jiaxing ZMAX Optech's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the market.

Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 31%. At least EPS has managed not to go completely backwards from three years ago in aggregate, thanks to the earlier period of growth. Accordingly, shareholders probably wouldn't have been overly satisfied with the unstable medium-term growth rates.

Comparing that to the market, which is predicted to deliver 38% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is weaker based on recent medium-term annualised earnings results.

In light of this, it's alarming that Jiaxing ZMAX Optech's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly limited recent growth rates and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. There's a good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/E falls to levels more in line with recent growth rates.

The Final Word

The strong share price surge has got Jiaxing ZMAX Optech's P/E rushing to great heights as well. 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 Jiaxing ZMAX Optech currently trades on a much higher than expected P/E since its recent three-year growth is lower than the wider market forecast. Right now we are increasingly uncomfortable with the high P/E as this earnings performance isn't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it will place shareholders' investments at significant risk and potential investors in danger of paying an excessive premium.

Having said that, be aware Jiaxing ZMAX Optech is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, you should know about.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Jiaxing ZMAX Optech. 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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