Jilin OLED Material Tech Co., Ltd. (SHSE:688378) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month, dropping 39% and undoing the prior period's positive performance. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 32% in that time.

Although its price has dipped substantially, Jilin OLED Material Tech may still be sending very bearish signals at the moment with a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 43.8x, since almost half of all companies in China have P/E ratios under 27x and even P/E's lower than 17x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

Jilin OLED Material Tech's negative earnings growth of late has neither been better nor worse than most other companies. It might be that many expect the company's earnings to strengthen positively despite the tough market conditions, which has kept the P/E from falling. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

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 Jilin OLED Material Tech's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market decidedly.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 2.6% decrease to the company's bottom line. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 11% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 97% as estimated by the five analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 42%, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we can see why Jilin OLED Material Tech is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Bottom Line On Jilin OLED Material Tech's P/E

Jilin OLED Material Tech's shares may have retreated, but its P/E is still flying high. 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.

As we suspected, our examination of Jilin OLED Material Tech's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. 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.

It is also worth noting that we have found 4 warning signs for Jilin OLED Material Tech (2 don't sit too well with us!) that you need to take into consideration.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Jilin OLED Material Tech. 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.