China Resources Microelectronics Limited's (SHSE:688396) Stock Has Seen Strong Momentum: Does That Call For Deeper Study Of Its Financial Prospects?

China Resources Microelectronics' (SHSE:688396) stock is up by a considerable 16% over the past week. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. Specifically, we decided to study China Resources Microelectronics' 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. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

See our latest analysis for China Resources Microelectronics

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for China Resources Microelectronics is:

3.8% = CN¥901m ÷ CN¥24b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every CN¥1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn CN¥0.04 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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.

China Resources Microelectronics' Earnings Growth And 3.8% ROE

It is quite clear that China Resources Microelectronics' ROE is rather low. Even compared to the average industry ROE of 5.9%, the company's ROE is quite dismal. Although, we can see that China Resources Microelectronics saw a modest net income growth of 16% over the past five years. We reckon that there could be other factors at play here. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

As a next step, we compared China Resources Microelectronics' net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 17% in the same period.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is China Resources Microelectronics fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is China Resources Microelectronics Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

China Resources Microelectronics has a low three-year median payout ratio of 10.0%, meaning that the company retains the remaining 90% of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business.

Additionally, China Resources Microelectronics has paid dividends over a period of four years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 12%. Regardless, the future ROE for China Resources Microelectronics is predicted to rise to 6.7% despite there being not much change expected in its payout ratio.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that China Resources Microelectronics certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Even in spite of the low rate of return, the company has posted impressive earnings growth as a result of reinvesting heavily into its business. That being so, the latest analyst forecasts show that the company will continue to see an expansion in its earnings. 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.