Fewer Investors Than Expected Jumping On XTB S.A. (WSE:XTB)

With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 7x XTB S.A. (WSE:XTB) may be sending bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Poland have P/E ratios greater than 13x and even P/E's higher than 27x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

XTB has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings at a solid pace. It might be that many expect the respectable earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

View our latest analysis for XTB

Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on XTB will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

How Is XTB's Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the market for P/E ratios like XTB's to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 8.5% gain to the company's bottom line. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 96% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Weighing that recent medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market's one-year forecast for expansion of 10% shows it's noticeably more attractive on an annualised basis.

With this information, we find it odd that XTB is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

The Final Word

Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

We've established that XTB currently trades on a much lower than expected P/E since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider market forecast. There could be some major unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching this positive performance. At least price risks look to be very low if recent medium-term earnings trends continue, but investors seem to think future earnings could see a lot of volatility.

Having said that, be aware XTB is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is potentially serious.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than XTB. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.