Barrick Mining Corporation's (TSE:ABX) Stock Is Rallying But Financials Look Ambiguous: Will The Momentum Continue?
Barrick Mining's (TSE:ABX) stock is up by a considerable 16% over the past three months. But the company's key financial indicators appear to be differing across the board and that makes us question whether or not the company's current share price momentum can be maintained. Specifically, we decided to study Barrick Mining's ROE in this article.
ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
ROE 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 Barrick Mining is:
10% = US$3.4b ÷ US$34b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CA$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CA$0.10 in profit.
See our latest analysis for Barrick Mining
What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. 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.
Barrick Mining's Earnings Growth And 10% ROE
On the face of it, Barrick Mining's ROE is not much to talk about. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 10%. Having said that, Barrick Mining's five year net income decline rate was 24%. Remember, the company's ROE is a bit low to begin with. So that's what might be causing earnings growth to shrink.
However, when we compared Barrick Mining's growth with the industry we found that while the company's earnings have been shrinking, the industry has seen an earnings growth of 18% in the same period. This is quite worrisome.
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. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about Barrick Mining's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Barrick Mining Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
In spite of a normal three-year median payout ratio of 43% (that is, a retention ratio of 57%), the fact that Barrick Mining's earnings have shrunk is quite puzzling. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.
Additionally, Barrick Mining has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years, which means that the company's management is determined to pay dividends even if it means little to no earnings growth. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to drop to 20% over the next three years. As a result, the expected drop in Barrick Mining's payout ratio explains the anticipated rise in the company's future ROE to 13%, over the same period.
Summary
In total, we're a bit ambivalent about Barrick Mining's performance. Even though it appears to be retaining most of its profits, given the low ROE, investors may not be benefitting from all that reinvestment after all. The low earnings growth suggests our theory correct. That being so, the latest industry analyst forecasts show that the analysts are expecting to see a huge improvement in the company's earnings growth rate. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
Valuation is complex, but we're here to simplify it.
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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.