When close to half the companies in Hong Kong have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 8x, you may consider Yeahka Limited (HKG:9923) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 48.1x P/E ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

Recent times haven't been advantageous for Yeahka as its earnings have been falling quicker than most other companies. It might be that many expect the dismal earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Check out our latest analysis for Yeahka

Is There Enough Growth For Yeahka?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the market for P/E ratios like Yeahka's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 37%. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 85% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 76% each year during the coming three years according to the nine analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 15% per year, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we can see why Yeahka is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

What We Can Learn From Yeahka's P/E?

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

As we suspected, our examination of Yeahka's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Yeahka that you should be aware of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Yeahka, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.