When close to half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 35x, you may consider Swancor Advanced Materials Co., Ltd. (SHSE:688585) as a stock to potentially avoid with its 39.6x 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 as high as it is.

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Swancor Advanced Materials as its earnings have been rising very briskly. The P/E is probably high because investors think this strong earnings growth will be enough to outperform the broader market in the near future. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Check out our latest analysis for Swancor Advanced Materials

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

Swancor Advanced Materials' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 43% last year. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen a very unpleasant 29% drop in EPS in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the market is expected to grow by 43% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term earnings decline into perspective.

In light of this, it's alarming that Swancor Advanced Materials' P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are ignoring the recent poor growth rate and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. There's a very good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/E falls to levels more in line with the recent negative growth rates.

The Bottom Line On Swancor Advanced Materials' P/E

We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

Our examination of Swancor Advanced Materials revealed its shrinking earnings over the medium-term aren't impacting its high P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given the market is set to grow. When we see earnings heading backwards and underperforming the market forecasts, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the high P/E lower. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. You can assess many of the main risks through our free balance sheet analysis for Swancor Advanced Materials with six simple checks.

You might be able to find a better investment than Swancor Advanced Materials. 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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