The subdued market reaction suggests that Sichuan Hezong Medicine Easy-to-buy Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:300937) recent earnings didn't contain any surprises. Our analysis suggests that along with soft profit numbers, investors should be aware of some other underlying weaknesses in the numbers.

How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?

For anyone who wants to understand Sichuan Hezong Medicine Easy-to-buy Pharmaceutical's profit beyond the statutory numbers, it's important to note that during the last twelve months statutory profit gained from CN¥7.9m worth of unusual items. While we like to see profit increases, we tend to be a little more cautious when unusual items have made a big contribution. We ran the numbers on most publicly listed companies worldwide, and it's very common for unusual items to be once-off in nature. And that's as you'd expect, given these boosts are described as 'unusual'. If Sichuan Hezong Medicine Easy-to-buy Pharmaceutical doesn't see that contribution repeat, then all else being equal we'd expect its profit to drop over the current year.

Note: we always recommend investors check balance sheet strength. Click here to be taken to our balance sheet analysis of Sichuan Hezong Medicine Easy-to-buy Pharmaceutical.

Our Take On Sichuan Hezong Medicine Easy-to-buy Pharmaceutical's Profit Performance

Arguably, Sichuan Hezong Medicine Easy-to-buy Pharmaceutical's statutory earnings have been distorted by unusual items boosting profit. Because of this, we think that it may be that Sichuan Hezong Medicine Easy-to-buy Pharmaceutical's statutory profits are better than its underlying earnings power. Sadly, its EPS was down over the last twelve months. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. Keep in mind, when it comes to analysing a stock it's worth noting the risks involved. While conducting our analysis, we found that Sichuan Hezong Medicine Easy-to-buy Pharmaceutical has 3 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Sichuan Hezong Medicine Easy-to-buy Pharmaceutical's profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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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.