Yahoo Finance Is Weakness In Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) Stock A Sign That The Market Could be Wrong Given Its Strong Financial Prospects?
With its stock down 15% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). However, a closer look at its sound financials might cause you to think again. Given that fundamentals usually drive long-term market outcomes, the company is worth looking at. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Overstock.com's ROE today.
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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
See our latest analysis for Overstock.com
How Is ROE Calculated?
Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Overstock.com is:
11% = US$81m ÷ US$709m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.11 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.
Overstock.com's Earnings Growth And 11% ROE
To begin with, Overstock.com seems to have a respectable ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 13% the company's ROE looks quite decent. This probably goes some way in explaining Overstock.com's significant 53% net income growth over the past five years amongst other factors. However, there could also be other drivers behind this growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.
We then compared Overstock.com's net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 35% in the same period.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. What is OSTK worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether OSTK is currently mispriced by the market.
Is Overstock.com Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Overstock.com doesn't pay any dividend currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the high earnings growth number that we discussed above.
Summary
Overall, we are quite pleased with Overstock.com's performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.
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