Should You Be Adding Airan (NSE:AIRAN) To Your Watchlist Today?

Investors are often guided by the idea of discovering 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without any revenue, let alone profit. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.' Loss-making companies are always racing against time to reach financial sustainability, so investors in these companies may be taking on more risk than they should.

Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like Airan (NSE:AIRAN). While this doesn't necessarily speak to whether it's undervalued, the profitability of the business is enough to warrant some appreciation - especially if its growing.

View our latest analysis for Airan

How Fast Is Airan Growing?

If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS) outcomes. That means EPS growth is considered a real positive by most successful long-term investors. Airan's shareholders have have plenty to be happy about as their annual EPS growth for the last 3 years was 43%. While that sort of growth rate isn't sustainable for long, it certainly catches the eye of prospective investors.

Careful consideration of revenue growth and earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margins can help inform a view on the sustainability of the recent profit growth. The good news is that Airan is growing revenues, and EBIT margins improved by 3.4 percentage points to 15%, over the last year. That's great to see, on both counts.

You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.

Since Airan is no giant, with a market capitalisation of ₹3.2b, you should definitely check its cash and debt before getting too excited about its prospects.

Are Airan Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Seeing insiders owning a large portion of the shares on issue is often a good sign. Their incentives will be aligned with the investors and there's less of a probability in a sudden sell-off that would impact the share price. So we're pleased to report that Airan insiders own a meaningful share of the business. Owning 43% of the company, insiders have plenty riding on the performance of the the share price. This should be a welcoming sign for investors because it suggests that the people making the decisions are also impacted by their choices. To give you an idea, the value of insiders' holdings in the business are valued at ₹1.4b at the current share price. That should be more than enough to keep them focussed on creating shareholder value!

Does Airan Deserve A Spot On Your Watchlist?

Airan's earnings have taken off in quite an impressive fashion. This level of EPS growth does wonders for attracting investment, and the large insider investment in the company is just the cherry on top. At times fast EPS growth is a sign the business has reached an inflection point, so there's a potential opportunity to be had here. So at the surface level, Airan is worth putting on your watchlist; after all, shareholders do well when the market underestimates fast growing companies. You should always think about risks though. Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Airan you should be aware of.

There's always the possibility of doing well buying stocks that are not growing earnings and do not have insiders buying shares. But for those who consider these important metrics, we encourage you to check out companies that do have those features. You can access a tailored list of Indian companies which have demonstrated growth backed by significant insider holdings.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

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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.