Improved Earnings Required Before Crop Life Science Limited (NSE:CLSL) Stock's 25% Jump Looks Justified

Despite an already strong run, Crop Life Science Limited (NSE:CLSL) shares have been powering on, with a gain of 25% in the last thirty days. While recent buyers may be laughing, long-term holders might not be as pleased since the recent gain only brings the stock back to where it started a year ago.

Even after such a large jump in price, Crop Life Science's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 17.2x 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 34x and even P/E's above 64x are quite common. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

The earnings growth achieved at Crop Life Science over the last year would be more than acceptable for most companies. It might be that many expect the respectable earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Crop Life Science

Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Crop Life Science will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

How Is Crop Life Science's Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as low as Crop Life Science's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 19% gain to the company's bottom line. EPS has also lifted 14% in aggregate from three years ago, mostly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been respectable for the company.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 26% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we can see why Crop Life Science is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the bourse.

The Final Word

Crop Life Science's stock might have been given a solid boost, but its P/E certainly hasn't reached any great heights. It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

As we suspected, our examination of Crop Life Science revealed its three-year earnings trends are contributing to its low P/E, given they look worse than current market expectations. 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 rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Crop Life Science (of which 3 are concerning!) you should know about.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.