Is Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.'s (TSE:6098) Recent Stock Performance Tethered To Its Strong Fundamentals?

Most readers would already be aware that Recruit Holdings' (TSE:6098) stock increased significantly by 12% over the past three months. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. Specifically, we decided to study Recruit Holdings' 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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

Check out our latest analysis for Recruit Holdings

How Is ROE Calculated?

Return on equity 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 Recruit Holdings is:

17% = JP¥343b ÷ JP¥2.0t (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each ¥1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made ¥0.17 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For 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. 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 Recruit Holdings' Earnings Growth And 17% ROE

To start with, Recruit Holdings' ROE looks acceptable. Especially when compared to the industry average of 13% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This certainly adds some context to Recruit Holdings' decent 16% net income growth seen over the past five years.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Recruit Holdings' growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 12% in the same period, which is great to see.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is 6098 fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Recruit Holdings Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Recruit Holdings has a low three-year median payout ratio of 12%, meaning that the company retains the remaining 88% of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business.

Moreover, Recruit Holdings is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of nine years of paying a dividend.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that Recruit Holdings' performance has been quite good. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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.