Yahoo Finance Is Lam Research Corporation's (NASDAQ:LRCX) Latest Stock Performance A Reflection Of Its Financial Health?
Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 26% 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. In this article, we decided to focus on Lam Research's 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. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
See our latest analysis for Lam Research
How Is ROE Calculated?
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Lam Research is:
58% = US$4.9b ÷ US$8.4b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.58 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. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. 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.
Lam Research's Earnings Growth And 58% ROE
First thing first, we like that Lam Research has an impressive ROE. Second, a comparison with the average ROE reported by the industry of 16% also doesn't go unnoticed by us. Under the circumstances, Lam Research's considerable five year net income growth of 20% was to be expected.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Lam Research's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 31% in the same period, which is not something we like to see.
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. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. What is LRCX worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether LRCX is currently mispriced by the market.
Is Lam Research Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Lam Research's ' three-year median payout ratio is on the lower side at 19% implying that it is retaining a higher percentage (81%) of its profits. So it looks like Lam Research is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business, which shows in its earnings growth.
Moreover, Lam Research is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of nine years of paying a dividend. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 19%. Regardless, Lam Research's ROE is speculated to decline to 39% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.
Summary
On the whole, we feel that Lam Research's performance has been quite good. 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 a good amount of 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.
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