Kuze Co., Ltd. (TSE:2708) Stock Catapults 28% Though Its Price And Business Still Lag The Market

Kuze Co., Ltd. (TSE:2708) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 28% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 14% in the last twelve months.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, Kuze's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 4x might still make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the market in Japan, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 14x and even P/E's above 22x are quite common. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Kuze as its earnings have been rising very briskly. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Kuze

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Kuze, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

Kuze's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 42% gain to the company's bottom line. However, the latest three year period hasn't been as great in aggregate as it didn't manage to provide any growth at all. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 10% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we can see why Kuze is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the bourse.

What We Can Learn From Kuze's P/E?

Kuze's recent share price jump still sees its P/E sitting firmly flat on the ground. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

We've established that Kuze maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its recent three-year growth being lower than the wider market forecast, as expected. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 3 warning signs for Kuze that you should be aware of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Kuze, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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.