Unsurprisingly, Huaihe Energy (Group) Co.,Ltd's (SHSE:600575) stock price was strong on the back of its healthy earnings report. However, our analysis suggests that shareholders may be missing some factors that indicate the earnings result was not as good as it looked.

How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?

Importantly, our data indicates that Huaihe Energy (Group)Ltd's profit received a boost of CN¥128m in unusual items, over the last year. While it's always nice to have higher profit, a large contribution from unusual items sometimes dampens our enthusiasm. When we crunched the numbers on thousands of publicly listed companies, we found that a boost from unusual items in a given year is often not repeated the next year. And, after all, that's exactly what the accounting terminology implies. If Huaihe Energy (Group)Ltd 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 Huaihe Energy (Group)Ltd.

Our Take On Huaihe Energy (Group)Ltd's Profit Performance

We'd posit that Huaihe Energy (Group)Ltd's statutory earnings aren't a clean read on ongoing productivity, due to the large unusual item. Because of this, we think that it may be that Huaihe Energy (Group)Ltd's statutory profits are better than its underlying earnings power. But the good news is that its EPS growth over the last three years has been very impressive. 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. So while earnings quality is important, it's equally important to consider the risks facing Huaihe Energy (Group)Ltd at this point in time. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Huaihe Energy (Group)Ltd (of which 1 doesn't sit too well with us!) you should know about.

This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of Huaihe Energy (Group)Ltd'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.