Good Times Restaurants Inc. (NASDAQ:GTIM) Looks Inexpensive But Perhaps Not Attractive Enough

With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 2.7x Good Times Restaurants Inc. (NASDAQ:GTIM) may be sending very bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios greater than 17x and even P/E's higher than 33x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.

Good Times Restaurants certainly has been doing a great job lately as it's been growing earnings at a really rapid pace. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

View our latest analysis for Good Times Restaurants

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Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Good Times Restaurants will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/E?

Good Times Restaurants' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 270% gain to the company's bottom line. Still, EPS has barely risen at all from three years ago in total, which is not ideal. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Weighing that recent medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market's one-year forecast for expansion of 9.7% shows it's noticeably less attractive on an annualised basis.

In light of this, it's understandable that Good Times Restaurants' P/E sits below the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting to see the recent limited growth rates continue into the future and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Bottom Line On Good Times Restaurants' 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.

As we suspected, our examination of Good Times Restaurants revealed its three-year earnings trends are contributing to its low P/E, given they look worse than current market expectations. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 3 warning signs for Good Times Restaurants (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Good Times Restaurants, 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.