Why Investors Shouldn't Be Surprised By Titan Machinery Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TITN) 32% Share Price Plunge

To the annoyance of some shareholders, Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ:TITN) shares are down a considerable 32% in the last month, which continues a horrid run for the company. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 42% share price drop.

After such a large drop in price, Titan Machinery's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 3.9x might make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the market in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 17x and even P/E's above 32x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.

Recent times haven't been advantageous for Titan Machinery as its earnings have been falling quicker than most other companies. The P/E is probably low because investors think this poor earnings performance isn't going to improve at all. You'd much rather the company wasn't bleeding earnings if you still believe in the business. If not, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Titan Machinery

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Titan Machinery.

Is There Any Growth For Titan Machinery?

Titan Machinery's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 15% decrease to the company's bottom line. Even so, admirably EPS has lifted 239% in aggregate from three years ago, notwithstanding the last 12 months. Accordingly, while they would have preferred to keep the run going, shareholders would probably welcome the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should bring diminished returns, with earnings decreasing 30% each year as estimated by the five analysts watching the company. With the market predicted to deliver 10% growth per year, that's a disappointing outcome.

With this information, we are not surprised that Titan Machinery is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. There's potential for the P/E to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its profitability.

The Key Takeaway

Having almost fallen off a cliff, Titan Machinery's share price has pulled its P/E way down as well. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

We've established that Titan Machinery maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast for sliding earnings, as expected. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Titan Machinery that you need to take into consideration.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Titan Machinery. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com