Has Soft-World International Corporation's (GTSM:5478) Impressive Stock Performance Got Anything to Do With Its Fundamentals?

Most readers would already be aware that Soft-World International's (GTSM:5478) stock increased significantly by 12% over the past month. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Soft-World International's ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

See our latest analysis for Soft-World International

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Soft-World International is:

13% = NT$934m ÷ NT$7.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every NT$1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of NT$0.13.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. 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 Soft-World International's Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

At first glance, Soft-World International seems to have a decent ROE. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 15%. This certainly adds some context to Soft-World International's moderate 19% net income growth seen over the past five years.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Soft-World International's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 24% in the same period, which is not something we like to see.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. 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. If you're wondering about Soft-World International's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Soft-World International Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

The high three-year median payout ratio of 60% (or a retention ratio of 40%) for Soft-World International suggests that the company's growth wasn't really hampered despite it returning most of its income to its shareholders.

Besides, Soft-World International has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders.

Summary

In total, it does look like Soft-World International has some positive aspects to its business. The company has grown its earnings moderately as previously discussed. Still, the high ROE could have been even more beneficial to investors had the company been reinvesting more of its profits. As highlighted earlier, the current reinvestment rate appears to be quite low. Up till now, we've only made a short study of the company's growth data. You can do your own research on Soft-World International and see how it has performed in the past by looking at this FREE detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flows.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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