Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) has had a rough three months with its share price down 26%. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company's financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. In this article, we decided to focus on Edwards Lifesciences' ROE.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Edwards Lifesciences is:

20% = US$1.5b ÷ US$7.5b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.20 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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.

Edwards Lifesciences' Earnings Growth And 20% ROE

At first glance, Edwards Lifesciences seems to have a decent ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 11% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This probably laid the ground for Edwards Lifesciences' moderate 13% net income growth seen over the past five years.

We then performed a comparison between Edwards Lifesciences' net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 11% in the same 5-year period.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. What is EW worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether EW is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Edwards Lifesciences Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Edwards Lifesciences doesn't pay any regular dividends, meaning that all of its profits are being reinvested in the business, which explains the fair bit of earnings growth the company has seen.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Edwards Lifesciences' performance has been quite good. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company.

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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.