Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical Technology Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:688179) share price has dived 25% in the last thirty days, prolonging recent pain. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 50% in that time.

Even after such a large drop in price, Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical TechnologyLtd's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 34.9x might still make it look like a sell right now compared to the market in China, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 30x and even P/E's below 18x 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 as high as it is.

Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical TechnologyLtd has been struggling lately as its earnings have declined faster than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think the company will turn things around completely and accelerate past most others in the market. If not, then existing shareholders may be very nervous about the viability of the share price.

See our latest analysis for Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical TechnologyLtd

Is There Enough Growth For Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical TechnologyLtd?

Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical TechnologyLtd's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform 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 14%. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 10% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the two analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 183% over the next year. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 42%, which is noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical TechnologyLtd's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Final Word

There's still some solid strength behind Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical TechnologyLtd's P/E, if not its share price lately. 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.

We've established that Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical TechnologyLtd maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 1 warning sign for Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical TechnologyLtd that we have uncovered.

If you're unsure about the strength of Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical TechnologyLtd's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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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.