Yahoo Finance Has Five Below, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:FIVE) Impressive Stock Performance Got Anything to Do With Its Fundamentals?
Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 12% over the last month. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on Five Below's ROE.
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. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
View our latest analysis for Five Below
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
The formula for return on equity is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Five Below is:
23% = US$262m ÷ US$1.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to April 2022).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.23 in profit.
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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 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.
A Side By Side comparison of Five Below's Earnings Growth And 23% ROE
Firstly, we acknowledge that Five Below has a significantly high ROE. However, a comparison to the industry average of 30% stops us from getting too excited. That being the case, the significant five-year 22% net income growth reported by Five Below comes as a pleasant surprise. So, there might be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place. Bear in mind, the company does have a high ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is higher. So this also does lend some color to the high earnings growth seen by the company.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Five Below's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 32% in the same period, which is not something we like to see.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Has the market priced in the future outlook for FIVE? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Five Below Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Five Below 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.
Conclusion
On the whole, we do feel that Five Below has some positive attributes. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a moderate rate of return, that has resulted in a respectable growth in its earnings. We also studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that the company's earnings growth is expected be similar to its current growth rate. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
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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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