YOUNGY Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002192) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 30% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. But the last month did very little to improve the 55% share price decline over the last year.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, given about half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 30x, you may still consider YOUNGY as a highly attractive investment with its 7.3x P/E ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.

Recent times have been pleasing for YOUNGY as its earnings have risen in spite of the market's earnings going into reverse. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think the company's earnings are going to fall away like everyone else's soon. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

How Is YOUNGY's Growth Trending?

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

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 19%. Still, EPS has barely risen at all from three years ago in total, which is not ideal. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should bring diminished returns, with earnings decreasing 65% as estimated by the sole analyst watching the company. That's not great when the rest of the market is expected to grow by 41%.

With this information, we are not surprised that YOUNGY is trading at a P/E lower than the market. However, shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.

The Final Word

YOUNGY's recent share price jump still sees its P/E sitting firmly flat on the ground. It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

As we suspected, our examination of YOUNGY's analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking earnings is contributing to its low P/E. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for YOUNGY (1 is a bit unpleasant) you should be aware of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on YOUNGY, 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.