When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 18x, you may consider Vipshop Holdings Limited (NYSE:VIPS) as a highly attractive investment with its 7.7x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Vipshop Holdings certainly has been doing a good job lately as its earnings growth has been positive while most other companies have been seeing their earnings go backwards. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, possibly more than the market, which has repressed the P/E. 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 Vipshop Holdings' Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as depressed as Vipshop Holdings' is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market decidedly.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 48% gain to the company's bottom line. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 71% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 6.7% per year during the coming three years according to the analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to expand by 9.8% per annum, which is noticeably more attractive.

With this information, we can see why Vipshop Holdings is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

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 Vipshop Holdings' analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook is contributing to its low P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Vipshop Holdings, and understanding should be part of your investment process.

You might be able to find a better investment than Vipshop Holdings. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.