APAC Opto Electronics Inc.'s (GTSM:4908) Stock Has Shown Weakness Lately But Financial Prospects Look Decent: Is The Market Wrong?

APAC Opto Electronics (GTSM:4908) has had a rough three months with its share price down 12%. However, the company's fundamentals look pretty decent, and long-term financials are usually aligned with future market price movements. Particularly, we will be paying attention to APAC Opto Electronics' ROE today.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

Check out our latest analysis for APAC Opto Electronics

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE 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 APAC Opto Electronics is:

8.4% = NT$127m ÷ NT$1.5b (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$0.08.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

APAC Opto Electronics' Earnings Growth And 8.4% ROE

When you first look at it, APAC Opto Electronics' ROE doesn't look that attractive. However, given that the company's ROE is similar to the average industry ROE of 9.9%, we may spare it some thought. Having said that, APAC Opto Electronics has shown a modest net income growth of 13% over the past five years. Considering the moderately low ROE, it is quite possible that there might be some other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

We then compared APAC Opto Electronics' net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 9.2% in the same period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is APAC Opto Electronics fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is APAC Opto Electronics Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

APAC Opto Electronics has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 52%, meaning that it is left with only 48% to reinvest into its business. This implies that the company has been able to achieve decent earnings growth despite returning most of its profits to shareholders.

Besides, APAC Opto Electronics has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that APAC Opto Electronics certainly does have some positive factors to consider. That is, quite an impressive growth in earnings. However, the low profit retention means that the company's earnings growth could have been higher, had it been reinvesting a higher portion of its profits. So far, we've only made a quick discussion around the company's earnings growth. So it may be worth checking this free detailed graph of APAC Opto Electronics' past earnings, as well as revenue and cash flows to get a deeper insight into the company's performance.

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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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