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It is hard to get excited after looking at Nova's (NASDAQ:NVMI) recent performance, when its stock has declined 21% over the past three months. But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Nova's ROE today.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
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How To Calculate Return On Equity?
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Nova is:
20% = US$184m ÷ US$928m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.20 in profit.
View our latest analysis for Nova
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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. 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.
A Side By Side comparison of Nova's Earnings Growth And 20% ROE
To start with, Nova's ROE looks acceptable. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 12% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Nova was able to see an impressive net income growth of 28% over the last five years. We believe that there might also be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Nova's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 13% in the same period, which is great to see.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is Nova fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.