With its stock down 7.2% over the past week, it is easy to disregard Globus Medical (NYSE:GMED). It is possible that the markets have ignored the company's differing financials and decided to lean-in to the negative sentiment. Fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes so it makes sense to study the company's financials. In this article, we decided to focus on Globus Medical's ROE.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Globus Medical is:

3.1% = US$123m ÷ US$4.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.03 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company's earnings growth potential. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.

Globus Medical's Earnings Growth And 3.1% ROE

It is hard to argue that Globus Medical's ROE is much good in and of itself. Even compared to the average industry ROE of 11%, the company's ROE is quite dismal. Accordingly, Globus Medical's low net income growth of 4.9% over the past five years can possibly be explained by the low ROE amongst other factors.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Globus Medical's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 14% over the last few years, which is not something we like to see.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about Globus Medical's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Globus Medical Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Globus Medical doesn't pay any dividend, which means that it is retaining all of its earnings. However, this doesn't explain the low earnings growth the company has seen. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by Globus Medical can be open to many interpretations. While the company does have a high rate of reinvestment, the low ROE means that all that reinvestment is not reaping any benefit to its investors, and moreover, its having a negative impact on the earnings growth. That being so, the latest analyst forecasts show that the company will continue to see an expansion in its earnings. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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.