To the annoyance of some shareholders, CETC Digital Technology Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:600850) shares are down a considerable 27% in the last month, which continues a horrid run for the company. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 37% share price drop.

After such a large drop in price, CETC Digital TechnologyLtd's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 20.9x might make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in China, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 27x and even P/E's above 48x are quite common. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

With its earnings growth in positive territory compared to the declining earnings of most other companies, CETC Digital TechnologyLtd has been doing quite well of late. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, possibly more than the market, which has repressed the P/E. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

How Is CETC Digital TechnologyLtd's Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, CETC Digital TechnologyLtd would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 21% last year. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 33% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the lone analyst covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 45% over the next year. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to expand by 41%, which is not materially different.

In light of this, it's peculiar that CETC Digital TechnologyLtd's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders are doubtful of the forecasts and have been accepting lower selling prices.

The Bottom Line On CETC Digital TechnologyLtd's P/E

CETC Digital TechnologyLtd's recently weak share price has pulled its P/E below most other companies. 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.

Our examination of CETC Digital TechnologyLtd's analyst forecasts revealed that its market-matching earnings outlook isn't contributing to its P/E as much as we would have predicted. There could be some unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching the outlook. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued, but investors seem to think future earnings could see some volatility.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 1 warning sign for CETC Digital TechnologyLtd that you should be aware of.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than CETC Digital TechnologyLtd. 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.