Sandvik AB (publ)'s (STO:SAND) Stock Is Going Strong: Is the Market Following Fundamentals?

Sandvik (STO:SAND) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 22% over the last three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. In this article, we decided to focus on Sandvik's ROE.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

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How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Sandvik is:

17% = kr14b ÷ kr88b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2025).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each SEK1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made SEK0.17 in profit.

Check out our latest analysis for Sandvik

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

A Side By Side comparison of Sandvik's Earnings Growth And 17% ROE

To start with, Sandvik's ROE looks acceptable. Even when compared to the industry average of 15% the company's ROE looks quite decent. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the decent growth of 10% seen over the past five years by Sandvik.

Next, on comparing Sandvik's net income growth with the industry, we found that the company's reported growth is similar to the industry average growth rate of 11% over the last few years.

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). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is SAND fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Sandvik Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Sandvik has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 49% (or a retention ratio of 51%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Additionally, Sandvik 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. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 45%. As a result, Sandvik's ROE is not expected to change by much either, which we inferred from the analyst estimate of 16% for future ROE.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Sandvik's performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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. 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.