雅虎香港財經 Foot Locker, Inc.'s (NYSE:FL) Stock is Soaring But Financials Seem Inconsistent: Will The Uptrend Continue?
Most readers would already be aware that Foot Locker's (NYSE:FL) stock increased significantly by 50% over the past three months. But the company's key financial indicators appear to be differing across the board and that makes us question whether or not the company's current share price momentum can be maintained. In this article, we decided to focus on Foot Locker's ROE.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
See our latest analysis for Foot Locker
How Is ROE Calculated?
The formula for return on equity is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Foot Locker is:
4.6% = US$149m ÷ US$3.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2023).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.05.
What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.
A Side By Side comparison of Foot Locker's Earnings Growth And 4.6% ROE
At first glance, Foot Locker's ROE doesn't look very promising. A quick further study shows that the company's ROE doesn't compare favorably to the industry average of 21% either. Thus, the low net income growth of 2.4% seen by Foot Locker over the past five years could probably be the result of the low ROE.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Foot Locker's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 27% over the last few years, which is not something we like to see.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is FL fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.
Is Foot Locker Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
While Foot Locker has a decent three-year median payout ratio of 28% (or a retention ratio of 72%), it has seen very little growth in earnings. Therefore, there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.
Moreover, Foot Locker has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer dividends over earnings growth. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 34% over the next three years. However, Foot Locker's future ROE is expected to rise to 7.4% despite the expected increase in the company's payout ratio. We infer that there could be other factors that could be driving the anticipated growth in the company's ROE.
Conclusion
In total, we're a bit ambivalent about Foot Locker's performance. 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.
