Kadokawa Corporation (TSE:9468) Stock Is Going Strong But Fundamentals Look Uncertain: What Lies Ahead ?

Kadokawa's (TSE:9468) stock is up by a considerable 13% over the past three months. But the company's key financial indicators appear to be differing across the board and that makes us question whether or not the company's current share price momentum can be maintained. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Kadokawa's ROE today.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

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How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Kadokawa is:

3.6% = JP¥9.9b ÷ JP¥277b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every ¥1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn ¥0.04 in profit.

View our latest analysis for Kadokawa

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

A Side By Side comparison of Kadokawa's Earnings Growth And 3.6% ROE

On the face of it, Kadokawa's ROE is not much to talk about. We then compared the company's ROE to the broader industry and were disappointed to see that the ROE is lower than the industry average of 8.6%. Therefore, Kadokawa's flat earnings over the past five years can possibly be explained by the low ROE amongst other factors.

We then compared Kadokawa's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 8.1% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Has the market priced in the future outlook for 9468? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.

Is Kadokawa Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

In spite of a normal three-year median payout ratio of 36% (or a retention ratio of 64%), Kadokawa hasn't seen much growth in its earnings. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.

Moreover, Kadokawa has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer dividends over earnings growth.

Summary

Overall, we have mixed feelings about Kadokawa. While the company does have a high rate of reinvestment, the low ROE means that all that reinvestment is not reaping any benefit to its investors, and moreover, its having a negative impact on the earnings growth. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.