XTB S.A. (WSE:XTB) Might Not Be As Mispriced As It Looks

When close to half the companies in Poland have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 12x, you may consider XTB S.A. (WSE:XTB) as an attractive investment with its 9.6x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

XTB certainly has been doing a great job lately as it's been growing earnings at a really rapid pace. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings growth might actually underperform the broader market in the near future. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

See our latest analysis for XTB

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on XTB's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, XTB would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 54%. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 336% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Comparing that to the market, which is only predicted to deliver 17% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is stronger based on recent medium-term annualised earnings results.

In light of this, it's peculiar that XTB's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance has exceeded its limits and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

The Key Takeaway

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

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. It appears many are indeed anticipating earnings instability, because the persistence of these recent medium-term conditions would normally provide a boost to the share price.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for XTB you should be aware of, and 1 of them is concerning.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.