With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 28.6x LBI Capital Berhad (KLSE:LBICAP) may be sending very bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Malaysia have P/E ratios under 12x and even P/E's lower than 7x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so lofty.
With earnings growth that's exceedingly strong of late, LBI Capital Berhad has been doing very well. It seems that many are expecting the strong earnings performance to beat most other companies over the coming period, which has increased investors’ willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.
Check out our latest analysis for LBI Capital Berhad
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How Is LBI Capital Berhad's Growth Trending?
LBI Capital Berhad's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the market.
Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 199% gain to the company's bottom line. Still, incredibly EPS has fallen 83% in total from three years ago, which is quite disappointing. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.
Weighing that medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market's one-year forecast for expansion of 12% shows it's an unpleasant look.
With this information, we find it concerning that LBI Capital Berhad is trading at a P/E higher than the market. Apparently many investors in the company are way more bullish than recent times would indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock at any price. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as a continuation of recent earnings trends is likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.
The Bottom Line On LBI Capital Berhad's P/E
Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.
Our examination of LBI Capital Berhad revealed its shrinking earnings over the medium-term aren't impacting its high P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given the market is set to grow. When we see earnings heading backwards and underperforming the market forecasts, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the high P/E lower. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.