Has SK hynix, Inc.'s (KRX:000660) Impressive Stock Performance Got Anything to Do With Its Fundamentals?

SK hynix's (KRX:000660) stock is up by a considerable 25% over the past three months. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. Specifically, we decided to study SK hynix's ROE in this article.

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 SK hynix

How Is ROE Calculated?

Return on equity 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 SK hynix is:

5.7% = ₩2.9t ÷ ₩50t (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every ₩1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated ₩0.06 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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 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.

SK hynix's Earnings Growth And 5.7% ROE

It is quite clear that SK hynix's ROE is rather low. Not just that, even compared to the industry average of 8.2%, the company's ROE is entirely unremarkable. SK hynix was still able to see a decent net income growth of 5.4% over the past five years. We believe that there might be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that SK hynix's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 11% in the same period, which is not something we like to see.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. 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 SK hynix is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is SK hynix Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

SK hynix's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 7.7% (implying that it retains 92% of its income), which is on the lower side, so it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business.

Additionally, SK hynix 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. Looking at the current analyst consensus data, we can see that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 13% over the next three years. However, SK hynix's future ROE is expected to rise to 15% despite the expected increase in the company's payout ratio. We infer that there could be other factors that could be driving the anticipated growth in the company's ROE.

Conclusion

In total, it does look like SK hynix has some positive aspects to its business. That is, a decent growth in earnings backed by a high rate of reinvestment. However, we do feel that that earnings growth could have been higher if the business were to improve on the low ROE rate. Especially given how the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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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