Taylor Devices, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TAYD) Stock Is Rallying But Financials Look Ambiguous: Will The Momentum Continue?

Taylor Devices' (NASDAQ:TAYD) stock is up by a considerable 20% over the past three months. However, we wonder if the company's inconsistent financials would have any adverse impact on the current share price momentum. Specifically, we decided to study Taylor Devices' ROE in this article.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

View our latest analysis for Taylor Devices

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 Taylor Devices is:

6.9% = US$3.1m ÷ US$44m (Based on the trailing twelve months to August 2022).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.07.

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. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. 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 Taylor Devices' Earnings Growth And 6.9% ROE

On the face of it, Taylor Devices' ROE is not much to talk about. Next, when compared to the average industry ROE of 13%, the company's ROE leaves us feeling even less enthusiastic. Thus, the low net income growth of 4.8% seen by Taylor Devices over the past five years could probably be the result of the low ROE.

We then compared Taylor Devices' net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 8.6% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.

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. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about Taylor Devices''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Taylor Devices Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Taylor Devices doesn't pay any dividend, meaning that potentially all of its profits are being reinvested in the business. However, this doesn't explain the low earnings growth the company has seen. So there could be some other explanation in that regard. For instance, the company's business may be deteriorating.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by Taylor Devices can be open to many interpretations. Even though it appears to be retaining most of its profits, given the low ROE, investors may not be benefitting from all that reinvestment after all. The low earnings growth suggests our theory correct. Wrapping up, we would proceed with caution with this company and one way of doing that would be to look at the risk profile of the business. Our risks dashboard will have the 1 risk we have identified for Taylor Devices.

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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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