Yahoo Finance Himax Technologies, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:HIMX) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?
With its stock down 27% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX). 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. Specifically, we decided to study Himax Technologies' ROE in this article.
Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
View our latest analysis for Himax Technologies
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 Himax Technologies is:
49% = US$483m ÷ US$989m (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.49 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.
Himax Technologies' Earnings Growth And 49% ROE
To begin with, Himax Technologies has a pretty high ROE which is interesting. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 19% which is quite remarkable. So, the substantial 74% net income growth seen by Himax Technologies over the past five years isn't overly surprising.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Himax Technologies' growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 24% in the same period, which is great to see.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is Himax Technologies fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is Himax Technologies Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Himax Technologies has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 75%, meaning the company only retains 25% of its income. This implies that the company has been able to achieve high earnings growth despite returning most of its profits to shareholders.
Moreover, Himax Technologies is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 83% of its profits over the next three years. However, Himax Technologies' future ROE is expected to decline to 32% despite there being not much change anticipated in the company's payout ratio.
Conclusion
On the whole, we feel that Himax Technologies' performance has been quite good. In particular, its high ROE is quite noteworthy and also the probable explanation behind its considerable earnings growth. Yet, the company is retaining a small portion of its profits. Which means that the company has been able to grow its earnings in spite of it, so that's not too bad. That being so, according to the latest industry analyst forecasts, the company's earnings are expected to shrink in the future. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.
