Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock's On An Uptrend: Are Strong Financials Guiding The Market?

Most readers would already be aware that Protagonist Therapeutics' (NASDAQ:PTGX) stock increased significantly by 22% over the past three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. Specifically, we decided to study Protagonist Therapeutics' ROE in this article.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

Check out our latest analysis for Protagonist Therapeutics

How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Protagonist Therapeutics is:

31% = US$170m ÷ US$541m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.31 in profit.

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.

Protagonist Therapeutics' Earnings Growth And 31% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that Protagonist Therapeutics has a significantly high ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 17% which is quite remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Protagonist Therapeutics was able to see a decent net income growth of 13% over the last five years.

As a next step, we compared Protagonist Therapeutics' net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 19% in the same period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Protagonist Therapeutics is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Protagonist Therapeutics Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Protagonist Therapeutics doesn't pay any regular dividends currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the decent earnings growth number that we discussed above.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Protagonist Therapeutics' performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. As a result, the decent growth in its earnings is not surprising. Having said that, on studying current analyst estimates, we were concerned to see that while the company has grown its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings to shrink in the future. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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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.