With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 33.6x C Sun Mfg Ltd. (TWSE:2467) may be sending very bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Taiwan have P/E ratios under 20x and even P/E's lower than 14x 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 so lofty.
C Sun Mfg certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. The P/E is probably high because investors think this strong earnings performance will continue. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.
Check out our latest analysis for C Sun Mfg
How Is C Sun Mfg's Growth Trending?
C Sun Mfg's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the market.
Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 54% gain to the company's bottom line. EPS has also lifted 14% in aggregate from three years ago, mostly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been respectable for the company.
Shifting to the future, estimates from the one analyst covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 56% over the next year. With the market only predicted to deliver 19%, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.
In light of this, it's understandable that C Sun Mfg's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.
The Final Word
Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.
We've established that C Sun Mfg maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.
There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 1 warning sign for C Sun Mfg that you should be aware of.
You might be able to find a better investment than C Sun Mfg. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).
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