The WITHUS PHARMACEUTICAL Co.,LTD. (KOSDAQ:330350) share price has done very well over the last month, posting an excellent gain of 27%. Looking back a bit further, it's encouraging to see the stock is up 27% in the last year.
Since its price has surged higher, WITHUS PHARMACEUTICALLTD may be sending bearish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 18.4x, since almost half of all companies in Korea have P/E ratios under 13x and even P/E's lower than 7x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's as high as it is.
For example, consider that WITHUS PHARMACEUTICALLTD's financial performance has been poor lately as its earnings have been in decline. It might be that many expect the company to still outplay most other companies over the coming period, 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.
Check out our latest analysis for WITHUS PHARMACEUTICALLTD
In order to justify its P/E ratio, WITHUS PHARMACEUTICALLTD would need to produce impressive growth in excess of the market.
Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 7.1%. Regardless, EPS has managed to lift by a handy 16% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the earlier period of growth. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the earnings growth recently has been mostly respectable for the company.
Weighing that recent medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market's one-year forecast for expansion of 38% shows it's noticeably less attractive on an annualised basis.
In light of this, it's alarming that WITHUS PHARMACEUTICALLTD's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. Apparently many investors in the company are way more bullish than recent times would indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock at any price. There's a good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/E falls to levels more in line with recent growth rates.
WITHUS PHARMACEUTICALLTD 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.
Our examination of WITHUS PHARMACEUTICALLTD revealed its three-year earnings trends aren't impacting its high P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given they look worse than current market expectations. Right now we are increasingly uncomfortable with the high P/E as this earnings performance isn't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.
You always need to take note of risks, for example - WITHUS PHARMACEUTICALLTD has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.
If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on WITHUS PHARMACEUTICALLTD, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.
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