YMT Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:251370) Stock Is Going Strong But Fundamentals Look Uncertain: What Lies Ahead ?

YMT's (KOSDAQ:251370) stock is up by a considerable 13% over the past month. However, we wonder if the company's inconsistent financials would have any adverse impact on the current share price momentum. In this article, we decided to focus on YMT's ROE.

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.

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How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

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 YMT is:

3.1% = ₩6.0b ÷ ₩194b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2025).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every ₩1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated ₩0.03 in profit.

Check out our latest analysis for YMT

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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. 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.

YMT's Earnings Growth And 3.1% ROE

It is quite clear that YMT's ROE is rather low. Even when compared to the industry average of 6.1%, the ROE figure is pretty disappointing. Therefore, it might not be wrong to say that the five year net income decline of 63% seen by YMT was possibly a result of it having a lower ROE. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. For instance, the company has a very high payout ratio, or is faced with competitive pressures.

However, when we compared YMT's growth with the industry we found that while the company's earnings have been shrinking, the industry has seen an earnings growth of 6.1% in the same period. This is quite worrisome.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). 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 YMT is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is YMT Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

YMT doesn't pay any regular dividends, meaning that the company is keeping all of its profits, which makes us wonder why it is retaining its earnings if it can't use them to grow its business. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by YMT can be open to many interpretations. While the company does have a high rate of profit retention, its low rate of return is probably hampering its earnings growth. Wrapping up, we would proceed with caution with this company and one way of doing that would be to look at the risk profile of the business. Our risks dashboard would have the 2 risks we have identified for YMT.

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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.