Wuxi Sunlit Science and Technology Company Limited (HKG:1289) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 26% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Looking back a bit further, it's encouraging to see the stock is up 29% in the last year.

Even after such a large jump in price, Wuxi Sunlit Science and Technology may still be sending very bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 4.3x, since almost half of all companies in Hong Kong have P/E ratios greater than 9x and even P/E's higher than 18x 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.

Wuxi Sunlit Science and Technology has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings at a solid pace. It might be that many expect the respectable earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/E?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far underperform the market for P/E ratios like Wuxi Sunlit Science and Technology's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 30%. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 1,113% overall rise in EPS, aided by its short-term performance. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Comparing that to the market, which is only predicted to deliver 18% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is stronger based on recent medium-term annualised earnings results.

In light of this, it's peculiar that Wuxi Sunlit Science and Technology's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

The Final Word

Wuxi Sunlit Science and Technology's recent share price jump still sees its P/E sitting firmly flat on the ground. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

We've established that Wuxi Sunlit Science and Technology currently trades on a much lower than expected P/E since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider market forecast. There could be some major unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching this positive performance. It appears many are indeed anticipating earnings instability, because the persistence of these recent medium-term conditions would normally provide a boost to the share price.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 4 warning signs for Wuxi Sunlit Science and Technology you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a low P/E.

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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.