Blue Jet Healthcare's (NSE:BLUEJET) Promising Earnings May Rest On Soft Foundations

Blue Jet Healthcare Limited (NSE:BLUEJET) just reported some strong earnings, and the market reacted accordingly with a healthy uplift in the share price. However, our analysis suggests that shareholders may be missing some factors that indicate the earnings result was not as good as it looked.

We've discovered 2 warning signs about Blue Jet Healthcare. View them for free.

Zooming In On Blue Jet Healthcare's Earnings

One key financial ratio used to measure how well a company converts its profit to free cash flow (FCF) is the accrual ratio. In plain english, this ratio subtracts FCF from net profit, and divides that number by the company's average operating assets over that period. The ratio shows us how much a company's profit exceeds its FCF.

That means a negative accrual ratio is a good thing, because it shows that the company is bringing in more free cash flow than its profit would suggest. That is not intended to imply we should worry about a positive accrual ratio, but it's worth noting where the accrual ratio is rather high. That's because some academic studies have suggested that high accruals ratios tend to lead to lower profit or less profit growth.

For the year to March 2025, Blue Jet Healthcare had an accrual ratio of 0.50. As a general rule, that bodes poorly for future profitability. To wit, the company did not generate one whit of free cashflow in that time. Over the last year it actually had negative free cash flow of ₹341m, in contrast to the aforementioned profit of ₹3.05b. It's worth noting that Blue Jet Healthcare generated positive FCF of ₹684m a year ago, so at least they've done it in the past.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

Our Take On Blue Jet Healthcare's Profit Performance

As we discussed above, we think Blue Jet Healthcare's earnings were not supported by free cash flow, which might concern some investors. For this reason, we think that Blue Jet Healthcare's statutory profits may be a bad guide to its underlying earnings power, and might give investors an overly positive impression of the company. But the happy news is that, while acknowledging we have to look beyond the statutory numbers, those numbers are still improving, with EPS growing at a very high rate over the last year. At the end of the day, it's essential to consider more than just the factors above, if you want to understand the company properly. If you'd like to know more about Blue Jet Healthcare as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing. When we did our research, we found 2 warning signs for Blue Jet Healthcare (1 is concerning!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Blue Jet Healthcare's profit. But there is always more to discover if you are capable of focussing your mind on minutiae. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. While it might take a little research on your behalf, you may find this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with significant insider holdings to be useful.

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.