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boohoo group plc's (LON:BOO) Price In Tune With Earnings

boohoo group plc's (LON:BOO) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 58x might make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in the United Kingdom, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 16x and even P/E's below 9x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

boohoo group certainly has been doing a good job lately as its earnings growth has been positive while most other companies have been seeing their earnings go backwards. The P/E is probably high because investors think the company will continue to navigate the broader market headwinds better than most. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

See our latest analysis for boohoo group

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If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on boohoo group.

Does Growth Match The High P/E?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the market for P/E ratios like boohoo group's to be considered reasonable.

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If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 45%. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 151% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 29% each year during the coming three years according to the analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 12% each year, which is noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that boohoo group's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Final Word

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 boohoo group's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for boohoo group that you need to take into consideration.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a P/E below 20x.

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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