Is RCM Technologies, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:RCMT) Stock's Recent Performance A Reflection Of Its Financial Health?

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RCM Technologies' (NASDAQ:RCMT) stock up by 2.8% over the past week. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Specifically, we decided to study RCM Technologies' ROE in this article.

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. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

Check out our latest analysis for RCM Technologies

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for return on equity is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for RCM Technologies is:

65% = US$21m ÷ US$32m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.65 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

A Side By Side comparison of RCM Technologies' Earnings Growth And 65% ROE

To begin with, RCM Technologies has a pretty high ROE which is interesting. Second, a comparison with the average ROE reported by the industry of 16% also doesn't go unnoticed by us. So, the substantial 44% net income growth seen by RCM Technologies over the past five years isn't overly surprising.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that RCM Technologies' growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 14% in the same period, which is great to see.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about RCM Technologies''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is RCM Technologies Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

RCM Technologies doesn't pay any dividend currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the high earnings growth number that we discussed above.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that RCM Technologies' performance has been quite good. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. With that said, on studying the latest analyst forecasts, we found that while the company has seen growth in its past earnings, analysts expect its future earnings to shrink. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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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