Yahoo Finance Cipher Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s (TSE:CPH) Stock Is Going Strong: Have Financials A Role To Play?
Cipher Pharmaceuticals (TSE:CPH) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 30% over the last three months. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on Cipher Pharmaceuticals' ROE.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
See our latest analysis for Cipher Pharmaceuticals
How To Calculate Return On Equity?
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 Cipher Pharmaceuticals is:
22% = US$9.8m ÷ US$44m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CA$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CA$0.22 in profit.
What Has ROE Got To Do With 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. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.
Cipher Pharmaceuticals' Earnings Growth And 22% ROE
Firstly, we acknowledge that Cipher Pharmaceuticals has a significantly high ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 18% which is quite remarkable. Given the circumstances, we can't help but wonder why Cipher Pharmaceuticals saw little to no growth in the past five years. We reckon that there could be some other factors at play here that's limiting the company's growth. These include low earnings retention or poor allocation of capital
We then compared Cipher Pharmaceuticals' net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 21% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. 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 Cipher Pharmaceuticals is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.
Is Cipher Pharmaceuticals Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Cipher Pharmaceuticals doesn't pay any dividend, meaning that potentially all of its profits are being reinvested in the business. However, this doesn't explain why the company hasn't seen any growth. So there could be some other explanations in that regard. For instance, the company's business may be deteriorating.
Summary
Overall, we feel that Cipher Pharmaceuticals certainly does have some positive factors to consider. However, given the high ROE and high profit retention, we would expect the company to be delivering strong earnings growth, but that isn't the case here. This suggests that there might be some external threat to the business, that's hampering its growth. With that said, on studying the latest analyst forecasts, we found that while the company has seen growth in its past earnings, analysts expect its future earnings to shrink. 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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