BH Global Corporation Limited's (SGX:BQN) 44% Share Price Surge Not Quite Adding Up

BH Global Corporation Limited (SGX:BQN) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 44% gain in the last month alone. While recent buyers may be laughing, long-term holders might not be as pleased since the recent gain only brings the stock back to where it started a year ago.

After such a large jump in price, given around half the companies in Singapore have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 11x, you may consider BH Global as a stock to potentially avoid with its 15.6x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

The earnings growth achieved at BH Global over the last year would be more than acceptable for most companies. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think this respectable earnings growth will be enough to outperform the broader market in the near future. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for BH Global

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

Is There Enough Growth For BH Global?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, BH Global would need to produce impressive growth in excess of the market.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 20%. The latest three year period has also seen a 7.4% overall rise in EPS, aided extensively by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing earnings over that time.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 11% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

In light of this, it's alarming that BH Global's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly limited recent growth rates and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as a continuation of recent earnings trends is likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.

The Final Word

BH Global shares have received a push in the right direction, but its P/E is elevated too. 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.

Our examination of BH Global revealed its three-year earnings trends aren't impacting its high P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given they look worse than current market expectations. Right now we are increasingly uncomfortable with the high P/E as this earnings performance isn't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

It is also worth noting that we have found 3 warning signs for BH Global (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you need to take into consideration.

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

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.