Is Ebara Corporation's (TSE:6361) Latest Stock Performance A Reflection Of Its Financial Health?

Most readers would already be aware that Ebara's (TSE:6361) stock increased significantly by 41% over the past three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Ebara's ROE today.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

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How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Ebara is:

16% = JP¥75b ÷ JP¥476b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every ¥1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn ¥0.16 in profit.

View our latest analysis for Ebara

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

A Side By Side comparison of Ebara's Earnings Growth And 16% ROE

To start with, Ebara's ROE looks acceptable. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 7.6% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. This certainly adds some context to Ebara's exceptional 24% net income growth seen over the past five years. However, there could also be other causes behind this growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

As a next step, we compared Ebara's net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 14%.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Has the market priced in the future outlook for 6361? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.

Is Ebara Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Ebara has a three-year median payout ratio of 35% (where it is retaining 65% of its income) which is not too low or not too high. By the looks of it, the dividend is well covered and Ebara is reinvesting its profits efficiently as evidenced by its exceptional growth which we discussed above.

Additionally, Ebara has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Ebara's performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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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.