Suzhou Highfine Biotech (SZSE:301393) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 23% over the last month. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. Specifically, we decided to study Suzhou Highfine Biotech's ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Suzhou Highfine Biotech is:

4.8% = CN¥106m ÷ CN¥2.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every CN¥1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated CN¥0.05 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

Suzhou Highfine Biotech's Earnings Growth And 4.8% ROE

It is quite clear that Suzhou Highfine Biotech's ROE is rather low. Even compared to the average industry ROE of 7.6%, the company's ROE is quite dismal. However, the moderate 10% net income growth seen by Suzhou Highfine Biotech over the past five years is definitely a positive. We reckon that there could be other factors at play here. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

We then performed a comparison between Suzhou Highfine Biotech's net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 9.0% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about Suzhou Highfine Biotech's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Suzhou Highfine Biotech Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Suzhou Highfine Biotech has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 25% (or a retention ratio of 75%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Suzhou Highfine Biotech certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth.

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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.