The Colour Life Services Group Co., Limited (HKG:1778) share price has softened a substantial 39% over the previous 30 days, handing back much of the gains the stock has made lately. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 35% share price drop.

Even after such a large drop in price, Colour Life Services Group's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 18.1x might still make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in Hong Kong, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 9x and even P/E's below 5x 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.

For example, consider that Colour Life Services Group's financial performance has been poor lately as its earnings have been in decline. It might be that many expect the company to still outplay most other companies over the coming period, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

View our latest analysis for Colour Life Services Group

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Colour Life Services Group, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Is Colour Life Services Group's Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as steep as Colour Life Services Group's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market decidedly.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 63%. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 97% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Comparing that to the market, which is predicted to deliver 23% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term earnings results is a sobering picture.

With this information, we find it concerning that Colour Life Services Group is trading at a P/E higher than the market. It seems most investors are ignoring the recent poor growth rate and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. There's a very good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/E falls to levels more in line with the recent negative growth rates.

What We Can Learn From Colour Life Services Group's P/E?

Even after such a strong price drop, Colour Life Services Group's P/E still exceeds the rest of the market significantly. It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

Our examination of Colour Life Services Group revealed its shrinking earnings over the medium-term aren't impacting its high P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given the market is set to grow. When we see earnings heading backwards and underperforming the market forecasts, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the high P/E lower. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it will place shareholders' investments at significant risk and potential investors in danger of paying an excessive premium.

Having said that, be aware Colour Life Services Group is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 2 of those are a bit unpleasant.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Colour Life Services Group. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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