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Investors are often guided by the idea of discovering 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without any revenue, let alone profit. Unfortunately, these high risk investments often have little probability of ever paying off, and many investors pay a price to learn their lesson. While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else investors will move on and the company will wither away.
Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like Diploma (LON:DPLM). While profit isn't the sole metric that should be considered when investing, it's worth recognising businesses that can consistently produce it.
View our latest analysis for Diploma
How Quickly Is Diploma Increasing Earnings Per Share?
If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price should eventually follow. That means EPS growth is considered a real positive by most successful long-term investors. Diploma managed to grow EPS by 12% per year, over three years. That's a good rate of growth, if it can be sustained.
Top-line growth is a great indicator that growth is sustainable, and combined with a high earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margin, it's a great way for a company to maintain a competitive advantage in the market. EBIT margins for Diploma remained fairly unchanged over the last year, however the company should be pleased to report its revenue growth for the period of 29% to UK£1.0b. That's a real positive.
The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. For finer detail, click on the image.
Fortunately, we've got access to analyst forecasts of Diploma's future profits. You can do your own forecasts without looking, or you can take a peek at what the professionals are predicting.
Are Diploma Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
Insider interest in a company always sparks a bit of intrigue and many investors are on the lookout for companies where insiders are putting their money where their mouth is. Because often, the purchase of stock is a sign that the buyer views it as undervalued. However, insiders are sometimes wrong, and we don't know the exact thinking behind their acquisitions.
Belief in the company remains high for insiders as there hasn't been a single share sold by the management or company board members. But the bigger deal is that the company insider, Barbara Gibbes, paid UK£112k to buy shares at an average price of UK£32.56. Strong buying like that could be a sign of opportunity.