Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Revolve Group, Inc. (NYSE:RVLV) share price has dived 30% in the last thirty days, prolonging recent pain. Indeed, the recent drop has reduced its annual gain to a relatively sedate 2.1% over the last twelve months.

Although its price has dipped substantially, given close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 17x, you may still consider Revolve Group as a stock to avoid entirely with its 30.6x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Revolve Group certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the strong earnings performance to persist, which has raised the P/E. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Check out our latest analysis for Revolve Group

Keen to find out how analysts think Revolve Group's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The High P/E?

Revolve Group's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 81% gain to the company's bottom line. Still, incredibly EPS has fallen 49% in total from three years ago, which is quite disappointing. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 21% per annum over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 11% per year, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we can see why Revolve Group 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 Bottom Line On Revolve Group's P/E

Revolve Group's shares may have retreated, but its P/E is still flying high. 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 Revolve Group's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for Revolve Group with six simple checks on some of these key factors.

You might be able to find a better investment than Revolve Group. 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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