Yahoo Finance Are Robust Financials Driving The Recent Rally In Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ASO) Stock?
Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 25% over the last three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Academy Sports and Outdoors' ROE today.
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. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
Check out our latest analysis for Academy Sports and Outdoors
How To Calculate Return On Equity?
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 Academy Sports and Outdoors is:
39% = US$612m ÷ US$1.6b (Based on the trailing twelve months to October 2022).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.39 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.
Academy Sports and Outdoors' Earnings Growth And 39% ROE
First thing first, we like that Academy Sports and Outdoors has an impressive ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 29% which is quite remarkable. As a result, Academy Sports and Outdoors' exceptional 45% net income growth seen over the past five years, doesn't come as a surprise.
As a next step, we compared Academy Sports and Outdoors' net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 34%.
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). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Has the market priced in the future outlook for ASO? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Academy Sports and Outdoors Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Academy Sports and Outdoors has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 2.6%, meaning that it has the remaining 97% left over to reinvest into its business. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business as evidenced by the growth seen by the company.
While Academy Sports and Outdoors has been growing its earnings, it only recently started to pay dividends which likely means that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 3.7% over the next three years. Despite the higher expected payout ratio, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much.
Conclusion
Overall, we are quite pleased with Academy Sports and Outdoors' performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.
Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
