Should You Use E Ink Holdings' (GTSM:8069) Statutory Earnings To Analyse It?

Statistically speaking, it is less risky to invest in profitable companies than in unprofitable ones. Having said that, sometimes statutory profit levels are not a good guide to ongoing profitability, because some short term one-off factor has impacted profit levels. Today we'll focus on whether this year's statutory profits are a good guide to understanding E Ink Holdings (GTSM:8069).

While E Ink Holdings was able to generate revenue of NT$14.5b in the last twelve months, we think its profit result of NT$3.20b was more important. In the last few years both its revenue and its profit have fallen, as you can see in the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for E Ink Holdings

Not all profits are equal, and we can learn more about the nature of a company's past profitability by diving deeper into the financial statements. This article will discuss how unusual items have impacted E Ink Holdings' most recent profit results. That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

The Impact Of Unusual Items On Profit

For anyone who wants to understand E Ink Holdings' profit beyond the statutory numbers, it's important to note that during the last twelve months statutory profit was reduced by NT$169m due to unusual items. It's never great to see unusual items costing the company profits, but on the upside, things might improve sooner rather than later. We looked at thousands of listed companies and found that unusual items are very often one-off in nature. And that's hardly a surprise given these line items are considered unusual. Assuming those unusual expenses don't come up again, we'd therefore expect E Ink Holdings to produce a higher profit next year, all else being equal.

Our Take On E Ink Holdings' Profit Performance

Because unusual items detracted from E Ink Holdings' earnings over the last year, you could argue that we can expect an improved result in the current quarter. Based on this observation, we consider it likely that E Ink Holdings' statutory profit actually understates its earnings potential! Unfortunately, though, its earnings per share actually fell back over the last year. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for E Ink Holdings and you'll want to know about it.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of E Ink Holdings' profit. But there is always more to discover if you are capable of focussing your mind on minutiae. For example, many people consider a high return on equity as an indication of favorable business economics, while others like to 'follow the money' and search out stocks that insiders are buying. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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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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