Getting In Cheap On Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600276) Might Be Difficult

Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd.'s (SHSE:600276) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 56x might make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in China, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 33x and even P/E's below 19x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine certainly has been doing a good job lately as its earnings growth has been positive while most other companies have been seeing their earnings go backwards. The P/E is probably high because investors think the company will continue to navigate the broader market headwinds better than most. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine

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How Is Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine's Growth Trending?

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

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 30%. Despite this strong recent growth, it's still struggling to catch up as its three-year EPS frustratingly shrank by 13% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 30% each year as estimated by the analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 18% per annum, which is noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

We've established that Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. You can assess many of the main risks through our free balance sheet analysis for Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine with six simple checks.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.