Are Robust Financials Driving The Recent Rally In Nintendo Co., Ltd.'s (TSE:7974) Stock?

Nintendo's (TSE:7974) stock is up by a considerable 16% over the past three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Nintendo'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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

View our latest analysis for Nintendo

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

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

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

19% = JP¥491b ÷ JP¥2.6t (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 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 ¥0.19 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.

Nintendo's Earnings Growth And 19% ROE

To begin with, Nintendo seems to have a respectable ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 7.3% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This probably laid the ground for Nintendo's moderate 16% net income growth seen over the past five years.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Nintendo's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 13% in the same period, which is great to see.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Nintendo is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Nintendo Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

The high three-year median payout ratio of 50% (or a retention ratio of 50%) for Nintendo suggests that the company's growth wasn't really hampered despite it returning most of its income to its shareholders.

Additionally, Nintendo 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.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with Nintendo's performance. In particular, its high ROE is quite noteworthy and also the probable explanation behind its considerable earnings growth. Yet, the company is retaining a small portion of its profits. Which means that the company has been able to grow its earnings in spite of it, so that's not too bad. 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.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com