Has TOKYO KEIKI INC.'s (TSE:7721) Impressive Stock Performance Got Anything to Do With Its Fundamentals?

Most readers would already be aware that TOKYO KEIKI's (TSE:7721) stock increased significantly by 15% over the past three months. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. Specifically, we decided to study TOKYO KEIKI's ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

Check out our latest analysis for TOKYO KEIKI

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 TOKYO KEIKI is:

7.1% = JP¥2.6b ÷ JP¥37b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every ¥1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn ¥0.07 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

A Side By Side comparison of TOKYO KEIKI's Earnings Growth And 7.1% ROE

When you first look at it, TOKYO KEIKI's ROE doesn't look that attractive. However, its ROE is similar to the industry average of 7.2%, so we won't completely dismiss the company. Even so, TOKYO KEIKI has shown a fairly decent growth in its net income which grew at a rate of 6.8%. Considering the moderately low ROE, it is quite possible that there might be some other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

We then compared TOKYO KEIKI's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 13% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning.

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). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. What is 7721 worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether 7721 is currently mispriced by the market.

Is TOKYO KEIKI Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

TOKYO KEIKI has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 30% (or a retention ratio of 70%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Moreover, TOKYO KEIKI is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years.

Summary

Overall, we feel that TOKYO KEIKI certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Namely, its respectable earnings growth, which it achieved due to it retaining most of its profits. However, given the low ROE, investors may not be benefitting from all that reinvestment after all. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.