In This Article:
The excitement of investing in a company that can reverse its fortunes is a big draw for some speculators, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can manage to find investors. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.' While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else investors will move on and the company will wither away.
Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB). Even if this company is fairly valued by the market, investors would agree that generating consistent profits will continue to provide National Australia Bank with the means to add long-term value to shareholders.
View our latest analysis for National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank's Earnings Per Share Are Growing
If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price should eventually follow. Therefore, there are plenty of investors who like to buy shares in companies that are growing EPS. We can see that in the last three years National Australia Bank grew its EPS by 15% per year. That growth rate is fairly good, assuming the company can keep it up.
It's often helpful to take a look at earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins, as well as revenue growth, to get another take on the quality of the company's growth. It's noted that National Australia Bank's revenue from operations was lower than its revenue in the last twelve months, so that could distort our analysis of its margins. While we note National Australia Bank achieved similar EBIT margins to last year, revenue grew by a solid 11% to AU$20b. That's progress.
The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.
Of course the knack is to find stocks that have their best days in the future, not in the past. You could base your opinion on past performance, of course, but you may also want to check this interactive graph of professional analyst EPS forecasts for National Australia Bank.
Are National Australia Bank Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
Since National Australia Bank has a market capitalisation of AU$81b, we wouldn't expect insiders to hold a large percentage of shares. But we are reassured by the fact they have invested in the company. Indeed, they hold AU$27m worth of its stock. This considerable investment should help drive long-term value in the business. While their ownership only accounts for 0.03%, this is still a considerable amount at stake to encourage the business to maintain a strategy that will deliver value to shareholders.