Orcoda Limited (ASX:ODA) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 29% share price drop in the last month. The recent drop completes a disastrous twelve months for shareholders, who are sitting on a 56% loss during that time.

Although its price has dipped substantially, given around half the companies in Australia have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 19x, you may still consider Orcoda as a stock to potentially avoid with its 22.4x P/E ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's as high as it is.

With earnings growth that's exceedingly strong of late, Orcoda has been doing very well. The P/E is probably high because investors think this strong earnings growth will be enough to outperform the broader market in the near future. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

View our latest analysis for Orcoda

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

Is There Enough Growth For Orcoda?

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

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 119% last year. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 53% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 24% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we find it concerning that Orcoda is trading at a P/E higher than the market. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly limited recent growth rates and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as a continuation of recent earnings trends is likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.

The Final Word

Orcoda's P/E hasn't come down all the way after its stock plunged. We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

Our examination of Orcoda revealed its three-year earnings trends aren't impacting its high P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given they look worse than current market expectations. Right now we are increasingly uncomfortable with the high P/E as this earnings performance isn't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. 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.

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Orcoda 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 low P/E.

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