The market for Beilong Precision Technology Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:301567) stock was strong after it released a healthy earnings report last week. However, we think that shareholders should be cautious as we found some worrying factors underlying the profit.

The Impact Of Unusual Items On Profit

Importantly, our data indicates that Beilong Precision Technology's profit received a boost of CN¥8.8m in unusual items, over the last year. We can't deny that higher profits generally leave us optimistic, but we'd prefer it if the profit were to be sustainable. We ran the numbers on most publicly listed companies worldwide, and it's very common for unusual items to be once-off in nature. And that's as you'd expect, given these boosts are described as 'unusual'. Assuming those unusual items don't show up again in the current year, we'd thus expect profit to be weaker next year (in the absence of business growth, that is).

Note: we always recommend investors check balance sheet strength. Click here to be taken to our balance sheet analysis of Beilong Precision Technology.

Our Take On Beilong Precision Technology's Profit Performance

We'd posit that Beilong Precision Technology's statutory earnings aren't a clean read on ongoing productivity, due to the large unusual item. Because of this, we think that it may be that Beilong Precision Technology's statutory profits are better than its underlying earnings power. But at least holders can take some solace from the 11% per annum growth in EPS for the last three. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for Beilong Precision Technology (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) and we strongly recommend you look at these before investing.

This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of Beilong Precision Technology's profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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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.