Earnings Working Against Kritika Wires Limited's (NSE:KRITIKA) Share Price Following 63% Dive

Kritika Wires Limited (NSE:KRITIKA) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month, dropping 63% and undoing the prior period's positive performance. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 31% in that time.

Since its price has dipped substantially, given about half the companies in India have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 30x, you may consider Kritika Wires as a highly attractive investment with its 12x P/E ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.

The earnings growth achieved at Kritika Wires 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.

See our latest analysis for Kritika Wires

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

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/E?

Kritika Wires' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 30% gain to the company's bottom line. Still, EPS has barely risen at all from three years ago in total, which is not ideal. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Weighing that recent medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market's one-year forecast for expansion of 26% shows it's noticeably less attractive on an annualised basis.

With this information, we can see why Kritika Wires 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.

What We Can Learn From Kritika Wires' P/E?

Kritika Wires' P/E looks about as weak as its stock price lately. 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.

We've established that Kritika Wires maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its recent three-year growth being lower than the wider market forecast, as expected. 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.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 4 warning signs for Kritika Wires (3 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.