Earnings Working Against Yik Wo International Holdings Limited's (HKG:8659) Share Price Following 26% Dive

Yik Wo International Holdings Limited (HKG:8659) shares have had a horrible month, losing 26% after a relatively good period beforehand. For any long-term shareholders, the last month ends a year to forget by locking in a 70% share price decline.

Even after such a large drop in price, Yik Wo International Holdings' price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 5.3x might still make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the market in Hong Kong, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 12x and even P/E's above 23x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.

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As an illustration, earnings have deteriorated at Yik Wo International Holdings over the last year, which is not ideal at all. It might be that many expect the disappointing earnings performance to continue or accelerate, which has repressed the P/E. However, if this doesn't eventuate then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

View our latest analysis for Yik Wo International Holdings

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

Yik Wo International Holdings' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 1.3% decrease to the company's bottom line. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 38% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Comparing that to the market, which is predicted to deliver 19% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term earnings results is a sobering picture.

In light of this, it's understandable that Yik Wo International Holdings' P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. There's potential for the P/E to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its profitability.

The Key Takeaway

Having almost fallen off a cliff, Yik Wo International Holdings' share price has pulled its P/E way down as well. While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

We've established that Yik Wo International Holdings maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its sliding earnings over the medium-term, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Yik Wo International Holdings that you should be aware of.

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.