It is hard to get excited after looking at Alibaba Pictures Group's (HKG:1060) recent performance, when its stock has declined 14% over the past month. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company's financials over the long term, which in this case look pretty respectable. Specifically, we decided to study Alibaba Pictures Group's ROE in this article.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors' money. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

View our latest analysis for Alibaba Pictures Group

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Alibaba Pictures Group is:

1.5% = CN¥215m ÷ CN¥15b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. That means that for every HK$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated HK$0.01 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don't share these attributes.

Alibaba Pictures Group's Earnings Growth And 1.5% ROE

It is quite clear that Alibaba Pictures Group's ROE is rather low. Even compared to the average industry ROE of 5.8%, the company's ROE is quite dismal. Despite this, surprisingly, Alibaba Pictures Group saw an exceptional 54% net income growth over the past five years. We reckon that there could be other factors at play here. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Alibaba Pictures Group's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 3.1% in the same period, which is great to see.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. What is 1060 worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether 1060 is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Alibaba Pictures Group Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Alibaba Pictures Group doesn't pay any dividend currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the high earnings growth number that we discussed above.

Conclusion

On the whole, we do feel that Alibaba Pictures Group has some positive attributes. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth. The latest industry analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to maintain its current growth rate. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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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.