Sportking India Limited (NSE:SPORTKING) Shares Fly 30% But Investors Aren't Buying For Growth

The Sportking India Limited (NSE:SPORTKING) share price has done very well over the last month, posting an excellent gain of 30%. Taking a wider view, although not as strong as the last month, the full year gain of 17% is also fairly reasonable.

Although its price has surged higher, Sportking India's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 19.4x might still make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in India, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 35x and even P/E's above 67x are quite common. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

For instance, Sportking India's receding earnings in recent times would have to be some food for thought. It might be that many expect the disappointing earnings performance to continue or accelerate, which has repressed the P/E. However, if this doesn't eventuate then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Sportking India

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Sportking India, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Sportking India would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 45% decrease to the company's bottom line. This means it has also seen a slide in earnings over the longer-term as EPS is down 13% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the market is expected to grow by 25% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term earnings decline into perspective.

In light of this, it's understandable that Sportking India's P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. However, we think shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term, which could set up shareholders for future disappointment. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent earnings trends are already weighing down the shares.

The Final Word

The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift Sportking India's P/E close to the market median. While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Sportking India revealed its shrinking earnings over the medium-term are contributing to its low P/E, given the market is set to grow. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it's hard to see the share price moving strongly in either direction in the near future under these circumstances.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 4 warning signs for Sportking India (2 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Sportking India, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com