Impressive Earnings May Not Tell The Whole Story For Nippon Television Holdings (TSE:9404)

Nippon Television Holdings, Inc. (TSE:9404) announced strong profits, but the stock was stagnant. We did some digging, and we found some concerning factors in the details.

View our latest analysis for Nippon Television Holdings

The Impact Of Unusual Items On Profit

For anyone who wants to understand Nippon Television Holdings' profit beyond the statutory numbers, it's important to note that during the last twelve months statutory profit gained from JP¥6.0b worth of unusual items. While we like to see profit increases, we tend to be a little more cautious when unusual items have made a big contribution. We ran the numbers on most publicly listed companies worldwide, and it's very common for unusual items to be once-off in nature. And that's as you'd expect, given these boosts are described as 'unusual'. If Nippon Television Holdings doesn't see that contribution repeat, then all else being equal we'd expect its profit to drop over the current year.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

Our Take On Nippon Television Holdings' Profit Performance

We'd posit that Nippon Television Holdings' statutory earnings aren't a clean read on ongoing productivity, due to the large unusual item. Therefore, it seems possible to us that Nippon Television Holdings' true underlying earnings power is actually less than its statutory profit. The good news is that, its earnings per share increased by 11% in the last year. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. While it's really important to consider how well a company's statutory earnings represent its true earnings power, it's also worth taking a look at what analysts are forecasting for the future. At Simply Wall St, we have analyst estimates which you can view by clicking here.

This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of Nippon Television Holdings' profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. For example, many people consider a high return on equity as an indication of favorable business economics, while others like to 'follow the money' and search out stocks that insiders are buying. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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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.