InMode Ltd.'s (NASDAQ:INMD) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 9.4x might make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 19x and even P/E's above 35x are quite common. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.
InMode has been struggling lately as its earnings have declined faster than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the dismal earnings performance to persist, which has repressed the P/E. If you still like the company, you'd want its earnings trajectory to turn around before making any decisions. If not, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.
Does Growth Match The Low P/E?
In order to justify its P/E ratio, InMode would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.
If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 19%. That put a dampener on the good run it was having over the longer-term as its three-year EPS growth is still a noteworthy 6.6% in total. Accordingly, while they would have preferred to keep the run going, shareholders would be roughly satisfied with the medium-term rates of earnings growth.
Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 8.4% per annum as estimated by the six analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to expand by 10% per year, which is not materially different.
In light of this, it's peculiar that InMode's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders are doubtful of the forecasts and have been accepting lower selling prices.
What We Can Learn From InMode's P/E?
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 InMode currently trades on a lower than expected P/E since its forecast growth is in line with the wider market. There could be some unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching the outlook. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued, but investors seem to think future earnings could see some volatility.
Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. Our free balance sheet analysis for InMode with six simple checks will allow you to discover any risks that could be an issue.
If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on InMode, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.
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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.
