With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 42.1x The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) may be sending very bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 18x and even P/E's lower than 11x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

Recent times have been advantageous for Chefs' Warehouse as its earnings have been rising faster than most other companies. The P/E is probably high because investors think this strong earnings performance will continue. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

Is There Enough Growth For Chefs' Warehouse?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the market for P/E ratios like Chefs' Warehouse's to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 138% last year. Still, EPS has barely risen at all from three years ago in total, which is not ideal. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the eight analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 21% each year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 11% per annum, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we can see why Chefs' Warehouse is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

What We Can Learn From Chefs' Warehouse's P/E?

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 Chefs' Warehouse maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Chefs' Warehouse (1 is a bit unpleasant) you should be aware of.

If you're unsure about the strength of Chefs' Warehouse'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.