Are Robust Financials Driving The Recent Rally In NetEase Cloud Music Inc.'s (HKG:9899) Stock?

NetEase Cloud Music's (HKG:9899) stock is up by a considerable 27% over the past three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. Particularly, we will be paying attention to NetEase Cloud Music's ROE today.

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

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How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for return on equity is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for NetEase Cloud Music is:

15% = CN¥1.6b ÷ CN¥10b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every HK$1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of HK$0.15.

View our latest analysis for NetEase Cloud Music

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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. 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 NetEase Cloud Music's Earnings Growth And 15% ROE

At first glance, NetEase Cloud Music seems to have a decent ROE. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 9.0%. This certainly adds some context to NetEase Cloud Music's exceptional 73% net income growth seen over the past five years. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that NetEase Cloud Music's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 17% in the same period, which is great to see.

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. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if NetEase Cloud Music is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is NetEase Cloud Music Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

NetEase Cloud Music 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

In total, we are pretty happy with NetEase Cloud Music's performance. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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.