ITOCHU Corporation's (TSE:8001) Stock Is Going Strong: Is the Market Following Fundamentals?

ITOCHU (TSE:8001) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 22% over the last 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 ITOCHU'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. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

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How Is ROE Calculated?

ROE can be calculated by using the formula:

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

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

15% = JP¥933b ÷ JP¥6.3t (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each ¥1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made ¥0.15 in profit.

View our latest analysis for ITOCHU

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. 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 ITOCHU's Earnings Growth And 15% ROE

At first glance, ITOCHU seems to have a decent ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 7.3% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. This probably laid the ground for ITOCHU's moderate 12% net income growth seen over the past five years.

Next, on comparing ITOCHU's net income growth with the industry, we found that the company's reported growth is similar to the industry average growth rate of 12% over the last few years.

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). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about ITOCHU's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is ITOCHU Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

ITOCHU has a three-year median payout ratio of 29%, which implies that it retains the remaining 71% of its profits. This suggests that its dividend is well covered, and given the decent growth seen by the company, it looks like management is reinvesting its earnings efficiently.

Additionally, ITOCHU 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 ITOCHU'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. 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.