Sunward Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:002097) healthy profit numbers didn't contain any surprises for investors. However the statutory profit number doesn't tell the whole story, and we have found some factors which might be of concern to shareholders.

The Impact Of Unusual Items On Profit

Importantly, our data indicates that Sunward Intelligent Equipment's profit received a boost of CN¥167m in unusual items, over the last year. While we like to see profit increases, we tend to be a little more cautious when unusual items have made a big contribution. When we crunched the numbers on thousands of publicly listed companies, we found that a boost from unusual items in a given year is often not repeated the next year. And that's as you'd expect, given these boosts are described as 'unusual'. We can see that Sunward Intelligent Equipment's positive unusual items were quite significant relative to its profit in the year to June 2024. As a result, we can surmise that the unusual items are making its statutory profit significantly stronger than it would otherwise be.

Note: we always recommend investors check balance sheet strength. Click here to be taken to our balance sheet analysis of Sunward Intelligent Equipment.

Our Take On Sunward Intelligent Equipment's Profit Performance

As previously mentioned, Sunward Intelligent Equipment's large boost from unusual items won't be there indefinitely, so its statutory earnings are probably a poor guide to its underlying profitability. For this reason, we think that Sunward Intelligent Equipment's statutory profits may be a bad guide to its underlying earnings power, and might give investors an overly positive impression of the company. On the bright side, the company showed enough improvement to book a profit this year, after losing money last year. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. If you want to do dive deeper into Sunward Intelligent Equipment, you'd also look into what risks it is currently facing. For example, Sunward Intelligent Equipment has 4 warning signs (and 2 which are a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Sunward Intelligent Equipment's profit. But there is always more to discover if you are capable of focussing your mind on minutiae. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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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.