It is hard to get excited after looking at Innodata's (NASDAQ:INOD) recent performance, when its stock has declined 33% over the past three months. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Innodata's ROE today.
Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Innodata is:
35% = US$34m ÷ US$97m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2025).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.35.
Check out our latest analysis for Innodata
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.
Firstly, we acknowledge that Innodata has a significantly high ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 21% which is quite remarkable. So, the substantial 65% net income growth seen by Innodata over the past five years isn't overly surprising.
As a next step, we compared Innodata's 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 12%.
Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about Innodata's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Given that Innodata doesn't pay any regular dividends to its shareholders, we infer that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits to grow its business.
In total, we are pretty happy with Innodata's performance. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable 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.
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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.