We Think That There Are Some Issues For NEXTIN (KOSDAQ:348210) Beyond Its Promising Earnings

Following the solid earnings report from NEXTIN, Inc. (KOSDAQ:348210), the market responded by bidding up the stock price. While the profit numbers were good, our analysis has found some concerning factors that shareholders should be aware of.

Check out our latest analysis for NEXTIN

A Closer Look At NEXTIN's Earnings

One key financial ratio used to measure how well a company converts its profit to free cash flow (FCF) is the accrual ratio. In plain english, this ratio subtracts FCF from net profit, and divides that number by the company's average operating assets over that period. You could think of the accrual ratio from cashflow as the 'non-FCF profit ratio'.

That means a negative accrual ratio is a good thing, because it shows that the company is bringing in more free cash flow than its profit would suggest. While it's not a problem to have a positive accrual ratio, indicating a certain level of non-cash profits, a high accrual ratio is arguably a bad thing, because it indicates paper profits are not matched by cash flow. To quote a 2014 paper by Lewellen and Resutek, "firms with higher accruals tend to be less profitable in the future".

For the year to December 2020, NEXTIN had an accrual ratio of 0.70. That means it didn't generate anywhere near enough free cash flow to match its profit. As a general rule, that bodes poorly for future profitability. To wit, it produced free cash flow of ₩7.5b during the period, falling well short of its reported profit of ₩14.7b. Unfortunately, we don't have data on NEXTIN's free cash flow for the prior year; that's not necessarily a bad thing, though we do generally prefer to be able to see a bit of a company's history.

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 NEXTIN's Profit Performance

As we discussed above, we think NEXTIN's earnings were not supported by free cash flow, which might concern some investors. For this reason, we think that NEXTIN's statutory profits may be a bad guide to its underlying earnings power, and might give investors an overly positive impression of the company. Of course, we've only just scratched the surface when it comes to analysing its earnings; one could also consider margins, forecast growth, and return on investment, among other factors. With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for NEXTIN you should be mindful of and 1 of them is concerning.

This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of NEXTIN's 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 that insiders are buying.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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