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Is Zebra Technologies Corporation's(NASDAQ:ZBRA) Recent Stock Performance Tethered To Its Strong Fundamentals?

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 18% over the last three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Zebra Technologies' 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. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

View our latest analysis for Zebra Technologies

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE 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 Zebra Technologies is:

29% = US$762m ÷ US$2.6b (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2021).

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 $0.29 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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. 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 Zebra Technologies' Earnings Growth And 29% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that Zebra Technologies has a significantly high ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 14% which is quite remarkable. So, the substantial 55% net income growth seen by Zebra Technologies over the past five years isn't overly surprising.

As a next step, we compared Zebra Technologies' net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 13%.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Zebra Technologies is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Zebra Technologies Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Zebra Technologies' performance has been quite good. 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. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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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