TPC Consolidated Limited (ASX:TPC) Stock Rockets 47% But Many Are Still Ignoring The Company
TPC Consolidated Limited (ASX:TPC) shareholders have had their patience rewarded with a 47% share price jump in the last month. Longer-term shareholders would be thankful for the recovery in the share price since it's now virtually flat for the year after the recent bounce.
Although its price has surged higher, TPC Consolidated may still be sending very bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 4.9x, since almost half of all companies in Australia have P/E ratios greater than 20x and even P/E's higher than 40x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.
Recent times have been quite advantageous for TPC Consolidated as its earnings have been rising very briskly. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.
Check out our latest analysis for TPC Consolidated
Although there are no analyst estimates available for TPC Consolidated, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/E?
There's an inherent assumption that a company should far underperform the market for P/E ratios like TPC Consolidated's to be considered reasonable.
Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 51% last year. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 304% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.
Weighing that recent medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market's one-year forecast for expansion of 21% shows it's noticeably more attractive on an annualised basis.
With this information, we find it odd that TPC Consolidated is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.
The Final Word
Even after such a strong price move, TPC Consolidated's P/E still trails 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 TPC Consolidated currently trades on a much lower than expected P/E since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider market forecast. When we see strong earnings with faster-than-market growth, we assume potential risks are what might be placing significant pressure on the P/E ratio. At least price risks look to be very low if recent medium-term earnings trends continue, but investors seem to think future earnings could see a lot of volatility.
Having said that, be aware TPC Consolidated is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, you should know about.
You might be able to find a better investment than TPC Consolidated. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20x (but have proven they can grow earnings).
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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