Why Investors Shouldn't Be Surprised By Amkor Technology, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AMKR) 26% Share Price Surge

Despite an already strong run, Amkor Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMKR) shares have been powering on, with a gain of 26% in the last thirty days. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 36%.

Since its price has surged higher, Amkor Technology may be sending bearish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 20.2x, since almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 16x and even P/E's lower than 9x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

With earnings that are retreating more than the market's of late, Amkor Technology has been very sluggish. It might be that many expect the dismal earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

See our latest analysis for Amkor Technology

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

How Is Amkor Technology's Growth Trending?

Amkor Technology's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 50% decrease to the company's bottom line. That put a dampener on the good run it was having over the longer-term as its three-year EPS growth is still a noteworthy 28% in total. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a good job of growing earnings over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 13% as estimated by the six analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 10% growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's understandable that Amkor Technology's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

Amkor Technology shares have received a push in the right direction, but its P/E is elevated too. 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 Amkor Technology maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

Plus, you should also learn about this 1 warning sign we've spotted with Amkor Technology.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a low P/E.

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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.