Yahoo Finance Are Robust Financials Driving The Recent Rally In Cogstate Limited's (ASX:CGS) Stock?
Cogstate's (ASX:CGS) stock is up by a considerable 48% over the past month. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. In this article, we decided to focus on Cogstate's ROE.
ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
Check out our latest analysis for Cogstate
How Is ROE Calculated?
ROE 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 Cogstate is:
23% = US$7.5m ÷ US$33m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every A$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated A$0.23 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For 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. 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.
A Side By Side comparison of Cogstate's Earnings Growth And 23% ROE
Firstly, we acknowledge that Cogstate has a significantly high ROE. Second, a comparison with the average ROE reported by the industry of 12% also doesn't go unnoticed by us. So, the substantial 65% net income growth seen by Cogstate over the past five years isn't overly surprising.
We then compared Cogstate's net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 48% in the same period.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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 Cogstate is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.
Is Cogstate Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Cogstate doesn't pay any dividend currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the high earnings growth number that we discussed above.
Summary
Overall, we are quite pleased with Cogstate's performance. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.
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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.
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