Is Test Research, Inc.'s (TPE:3030) Latest Stock Performance Being Led By Its Strong Fundamentals?

Test Research's (TPE:3030) stock up by 1.9% over the past week. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term financial health, we decided to study the company’s fundamentals to see if they could be influencing the market. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Test Research'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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

Check out our latest analysis for Test Research

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for return on equity is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Test Research is:

21% = NT$1.2b ÷ NT$5.5b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every NT$1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn NT$0.21 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. 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.

Test Research's Earnings Growth And 21% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that Test Research has a significantly high ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 9.9% which is quite remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Test Research was able to see a decent net income growth of 9.5% over the last five years.

As a next step, we compared Test Research's net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 9.2% in the same period.

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). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Test Research's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Test Research Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Test Research has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 82%, meaning that it is left with only 18% 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.

Moreover, Test Research is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years.

Conclusion

Overall, we are quite pleased with Test Research's performance. In particular, its high ROE is quite noteworthy and also the probable explanation behind its considerable earnings growth. Yet, the company is retaining a small portion of its profits. Which means that the company has been able to grow its earnings in spite of it, so that's not too bad. So far, we've only made a quick discussion around the company's earnings growth. To gain further insights into Test Research's past profit growth, check out this visualization 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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