China Bester Group Telecom Co., Ltd. (SHSE:603220) shares have retraced a considerable 27% in the last month, reversing a fair amount of their solid recent performance. The good news is that in the last year, the stock has shone bright like a diamond, gaining 212%.

Even after such a large drop in price, given close to half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 34x, you may still consider China Bester Group Telecom as a stock to avoid entirely with its 79x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times haven't been advantageous for China Bester Group Telecom as its earnings have been falling quicker than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think the company will turn things around completely and accelerate past most others in the market. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Check out our latest analysis for China Bester Group Telecom

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

China Bester Group Telecom's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the market.

Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 3.8%. However, a few very strong years before that means that it was still able to grow EPS by an impressive 51% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a very good job of growing earnings over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the only analyst covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 70% over the next year. With the market only predicted to deliver 44%, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

With this information, we can see why China Bester Group Telecom 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.

The Bottom Line On China Bester Group Telecom's P/E

Even after such a strong price drop, China Bester Group Telecom's P/E still exceeds the rest of the market significantly. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

We've established that China Bester Group Telecom maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with China Bester Group Telecom, and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a low P/E.

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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.