bioMérieux S.A.'s (EPA:BIM) Stock Has Been Sliding But Fundamentals Look Strong: Is The Market Wrong?

bioMérieux (EPA:BIM) has had a rough month with its share price down 16%. But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. In this article, we decided to focus on bioMérieux's ROE.

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. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

See our latest analysis for bioMérieux

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 bioMérieux is:

18% = €507m ÷ €2.7b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every €1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated €0.18 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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. 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.

bioMérieux's Earnings Growth And 18% ROE

At first glance, bioMérieux seems to have a decent ROE. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 18%. This probably goes some way in explaining bioMérieux's significant 20% net income growth over the past five years amongst other factors. We reckon that there could also 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.

Next, on comparing bioMérieux's net income growth with the industry, we found that the company's reported growth is similar to the industry average growth rate of 20% in the same period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. What is BIM worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether BIM is currently mispriced by the market.

Is bioMérieux Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

bioMérieux has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 15%, meaning that it has the remaining 85% left over to reinvest into its business. So it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business and this reflects in its earnings growth number.

Additionally, bioMérieux has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 16% of its profits over the next three years. However, bioMérieux's future ROE is expected to decline to 13% despite there being not much change anticipated in the company's payout ratio.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with bioMérieux's performance. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. With that said, on studying the latest analyst forecasts, we found that while the company has seen growth in its past earnings, analysts expect its future earnings to shrink. 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.