Are Marcus & Millichap, Inc.'s (NYSE:MMI) Mixed Financials The Reason For Its Gloomy Performance on The Stock Market?
It is hard to get excited after looking at Marcus & Millichap's (NYSE:MMI) recent performance, when its stock has declined 6.3% over the past three months. We, however decided to study the company's financials to determine if they have got anything to do with the price decline. Stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, and therefore we decided to pay more attention to the company's financial performance. In this article, we decided to focus on Marcus & Millichap's ROE.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.
See our latest analysis for Marcus & Millichap
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 Marcus & Millichap is:
7.8% = US$43m ÷ US$547m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.08 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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.
Marcus & Millichap's Earnings Growth And 7.8% ROE
When you first look at it, Marcus & Millichap's ROE doesn't look that attractive. However, its ROE is similar to the industry average of 7.8%, so we won't completely dismiss the company. Having said that, Marcus & Millichap's net income growth over the past five years is more or less flat. Remember, the company's ROE is not particularly great to begin with. So that could also be one of the reasons behind the company's flat growth in earnings.
We then compared Marcus & Millichap's net income growth with the industry and found that the average industry growth rate was 4.8% in the same period.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Marcus & Millichap is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.
Is Marcus & Millichap Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Summary
On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by Marcus & Millichap can be open to many interpretations. Even though it appears to be retaining most of its profits, given the low ROE, investors may not be benefitting from all that reinvestment after all. The low earnings growth suggests our theory correct. With that said, we studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that while the company has shrunk its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings to grow in the future. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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