After reading Jenoptik AG’s (XTRA:JEN) most recent earnings announcement (30 September 2017), I found it useful to look back at how the company has performed in the past and compare this against the latest numbers. As a long term investor, I pay close attention to earnings trend, rather than the figures published at one point in time. I also compare against an industry benchmark to check whether Jenoptik’s performance has been impacted by industry movements. In this article I briefly touch on my key findings. Check out our latest analysis for Jenoptik

Could JEN beat the long-term trend and outperform its industry?

For the most up-to-date info, I use data from the most recent 12 months, which annualizes the latest 6-month earnings release, or some times, the latest annual report is already the most recent financial data. This blend allows me to examine different companies on a similar basis, using the most relevant data points. For Jenoptik, its latest earnings (trailing twelve month) is €62.17M, which compared to last year’s level, has increased by 21.08%. Given that these values are relatively short-term, I have calculated an annualized five-year value for Jenoptik’s net income, which stands at €42.63M This means that, on average, Jenoptik has been able to gradually improve its bottom line over the last few years as well.

What’s enabled this growth? Well, let’s take a look at whether it is merely a result of industry tailwinds, or if Jenoptik has experienced some company-specific growth. Over the past few years, Jenoptik expanded its bottom line faster than revenue by successfully controlling its costs. This resulted in a margin expansion and profitability over time. Looking at growth from a sector-level, the DE electronic industry has been growing its average earnings by double-digit 20.08% in the previous year, and a more subdued 9.90% over the past five years. This means any uplift the industry is deriving benefit from, Jenoptik is able to amplify this to its advantage.

What does this mean?

While past data is useful, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Companies that have performed well in the past, such as Jenoptik gives investors conviction. However, the next step would be to assess whether the future looks as optimistic. You should continue to research Jenoptik to get a better picture of the stock by looking at:

• 1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for JEN’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for JEN’s outlook.

• 2. Financial Health: Is JEN’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here.

• 3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 30 September 2017. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.