With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 4.1x Arch Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ARCH) may be sending very bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios greater than 17x and even P/E's higher than 32x are not unusual.  However, the P/E might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.  

With earnings that are retreating more than the market's of late, Arch Resources has been very sluggish.   It seems that many are expecting the dismal earnings performance to persist, which has repressed the P/E.  If you still like the company, you'd want its earnings trajectory to turn around before making any decisions.  Or at the very least, you'd be hoping the earnings slide doesn't get any worse if your plan is to pick up some stock while it's out of favour.    

View our latest analysis for Arch Resources

NYSE:ARCH Price to Earnings Ratio vs Industry January 23rd 2024

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Arch Resources.

How Is Arch Resources' Growth Trending?  

Arch Resources' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse 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.  

Turning to the outlook, the next year should bring diminished returns, with earnings decreasing 45%  as estimated by the six analysts watching the company.  Meanwhile, the broader market is forecast to expand by 10%, which paints a poor picture.

With this information, we are not surprised that Arch Resources is trading at a P/E lower than the market.  However, shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term.  Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.  

The Final Word

Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

We've established that Arch Resources maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast for sliding earnings, as expected.  At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio.  Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.    

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 3 warning signs for Arch Resources (2 are a bit unpleasant!) that you need to be mindful of.  

You might be able to find a better investment than Arch Resources. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.