Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 54% gain in the last month alone. The last month tops off a massive increase of 152% in the last year.

Following the firm bounce in price, given close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 17x, you may consider Vital Farms as a stock to avoid entirely with its 42.7x 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 lofty.

With its earnings growth in positive territory compared to the declining earnings of most other companies, Vital Farms has been doing quite well of late. The P/E is probably high because investors think the company will continue to navigate the broader market headwinds better than most. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The High P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Vital Farms would need to produce outstanding growth well in excess of the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 257% gain to the company's bottom line. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 175% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 4.5% per year as estimated by the ten analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to expand by 9.8% each year, which is noticeably more attractive.

With this information, we find it concerning that Vital Farms is trading at a P/E higher than the market. It seems most investors are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects, but the analyst cohort is not so confident this will happen. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as this level of earnings growth is likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.

The Bottom Line On Vital Farms' P/E

The strong share price surge has got Vital Farms' P/E rushing to great heights as well. 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.

We've established that Vital Farms currently trades on a much higher than expected P/E since its forecast growth is lower than the wider market. Right now we are increasingly uncomfortable with the high P/E as the predicted future earnings aren't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. This places shareholders' investments at significant risk and potential investors in danger of paying an excessive premium.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Vital Farms you should be aware of.

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