The SPS Commerce, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPSC) share price has fared very poorly over the last month, falling by a substantial 27%. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 28% in that time.

Even after such a large drop in price, SPS Commerce may still be sending very bearish signals at the moment with a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 65.6x, since almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 17x and even P/E's lower than 10x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times have been advantageous for SPS Commerce as its earnings have been rising faster than most other companies. The P/E is probably high because investors think this strong earnings performance will continue. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

View our latest analysis for SPS Commerce

Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on SPS Commerce will help you uncover what's on the horizon.

Is There Enough Growth For SPS Commerce?

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 15% gain to the company's bottom line. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 63% overall rise in EPS, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 16% each year as estimated by the eleven analysts watching the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 11% per year, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

With this information, we can see why SPS Commerce is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Final Word

Even after such a strong price drop, SPS Commerce'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.

As we suspected, our examination of SPS Commerce'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.

A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. Our free balance sheet analysis for SPS Commerce with six simple checks will allow you to discover any risks that could be an issue.

You might be able to find a better investment than SPS Commerce. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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