Are The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc.'s (NYSE:NAPA) Fundamentals Good Enough to Warrant Buying Given The Stock's Recent Weakness?

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It is hard to get excited after looking at Duckhorn Portfolio's (NYSE:NAPA) recent performance, when its stock has declined 18% over the past three months. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financials over the long term, which in this case look pretty respectable. In this article, we decided to focus on Duckhorn Portfolio's ROE.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

View our latest analysis for Duckhorn Portfolio

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE can be calculated by using the formula:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Duckhorn Portfolio is:

6.8% = US$65m ÷ US$959m (Based on the trailing twelve months to October 2023).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.07 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.

Duckhorn Portfolio's Earnings Growth And 6.8% ROE

When you first look at it, Duckhorn Portfolio's ROE doesn't look that attractive. Next, when compared to the average industry ROE of 16%, the company's ROE leaves us feeling even less enthusiastic. Although, we can see that Duckhorn Portfolio saw a modest net income growth of 18% over the past five years. So, there might be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

As a next step, we compared Duckhorn Portfolio's net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 4.4%.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Has the market priced in the future outlook for NAPA? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.

Is Duckhorn Portfolio Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Given that Duckhorn Portfolio doesn't pay any dividend to its shareholders, we infer that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits to grow its business.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Duckhorn Portfolio certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Even in spite of the low rate of return, the company has posted impressive earnings growth as a result of reinvesting heavily into its business. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. 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.

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