Embraer S.A.'s (BVMF:EMBR3) Stock On An Uptrend: Could Fundamentals Be Driving The Momentum?

Embraer (BVMF:EMBR3) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 24% over the last three months. As most would know, fundamentals are what usually guide market price movements over the long-term, so we decided to look at the company's key financial indicators today to determine if they have any role to play in the recent price movement. Specifically, we decided to study Embraer's ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

View our latest analysis for Embraer

How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Embraer is:

12% = R$2.0b ÷ R$17b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. So, this means that for every R$1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of R$0.12.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

A Side By Side comparison of Embraer's Earnings Growth And 12% ROE

It is quite clear that Embraer's ROE is rather low. A comparison with the industry shows that the company's ROE is pretty similar to the average industry ROE of 11%. Looking at Embraer's exceptional 46% five-year net income growth in particular, we are definitely impressed. Given the low ROE, it is likely that there could be some other reasons behind this growth as well. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

As a next step, we compared Embraer's net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 15%.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Embraer's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Embraer Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Embraer doesn't pay any regular dividends currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the high earnings growth number that we discussed above.

Summary

On the whole, we do feel that Embraer has some positive attributes. 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. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company.

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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.