Do Its Financials Have Any Role To Play In Driving DIGITAL PLUS, Inc.'s (TSE:3691) Stock Up Recently?

DIGITAL PLUS' (TSE:3691) stock is up by a considerable 15% over the past three months. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. Specifically, we decided to study DIGITAL PLUS' ROE in this article.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

View our latest analysis for DIGITAL PLUS

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 DIGITAL PLUS is:

10% = JP¥82m ÷ JP¥816m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. That means that for every ¥1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated ¥0.10 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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. 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.

DIGITAL PLUS' Earnings Growth And 10% ROE

To start with, DIGITAL PLUS' ROE looks acceptable. Be that as it may, the company's ROE is still quite lower than the industry average of 13%. Although, we can see that DIGITAL PLUS saw a modest net income growth of 13% over the past five years. We reckon that there could be other factors at play here. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place. Bear in mind, the company does have a respectable level of ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is higher. So this also does lend some color to the fairly high earnings growth seen by the company.

We then compared DIGITAL PLUS' net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 17% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. 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 DIGITAL PLUS''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is DIGITAL PLUS Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

DIGITAL PLUS doesn't pay any regular dividends, meaning that all of its profits are being reinvested in the business, which explains the fair bit of earnings growth the company has seen.

Summary

Overall, we feel that DIGITAL PLUS certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Particularly, its earnings have grown respectably as we saw earlier, which was likely achieved due to the company reinvesting most of its earnings at a decent rate of return, to grow its business. While we won't completely dismiss the company, what we would do, is try to ascertain how risky the business is to make a more informed decision around the company. Our risks dashboard would have the 2 risks we have identified for DIGITAL PLUS.

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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.