logo
Will Weakness in Kotra Industries Berhad's (KLSE:KOTRA) Stock Prove Temporary Given Strong Fundamentals?

Will Weakness in Kotra Industries Berhad's (KLSE:KOTRA) Stock Prove Temporary Given Strong Fundamentals?

Yahoo26-03-2025
It is hard to get excited after looking at Kotra Industries Berhad's (KLSE:KOTRA) recent performance, when its stock has declined 11% over the past three months. But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. In this article, we decided to focus on Kotra Industries Berhad's ROE.
Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.
The formula for return on equity is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Kotra Industries Berhad is:
15% = RM40m ÷ RM258m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each MYR1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made MYR0.15 in profit.
Check out our latest analysis for Kotra Industries Berhad
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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 all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.
To begin with, Kotra Industries Berhad seems to have a respectable ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 8.1% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Kotra Industries Berhad was able to see a decent growth of 14% over the last five years.
We then compared Kotra Industries Berhad's net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 11% in the same 5-year period.
Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about Kotra Industries Berhad's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
The high three-year median payout ratio of 61% (or a retention ratio of 39%) for Kotra Industries Berhad suggests that the company's growth wasn't really hampered despite it returning most of its income to its shareholders.
Additionally, Kotra Industries Berhad has paid dividends over a period of eight years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders.
On the whole, we feel that Kotra Industries Berhad's performance has been quite good. Especially the high ROE, Which has contributed to the impressive growth seen in earnings. Despite the company reinvesting only a small portion of its profits, it still has managed to grow its earnings so that is appreciable. The latest industry analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to maintain its current growth rate. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

OpenAI is at a classic strategy crossroads involving its ‘moat'—which Warren Buffett believes can make or break a business
OpenAI is at a classic strategy crossroads involving its ‘moat'—which Warren Buffett believes can make or break a business

Yahoo

time19 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

OpenAI is at a classic strategy crossroads involving its ‘moat'—which Warren Buffett believes can make or break a business

It's an epochal moment as history's latest general-purpose technology, AI, forms itself into an industry. Much depends on these early days, especially the fate of the industry's leader by a mile, Open AI. In terms of the last general-purpose technology, the internet, will it become a colossus like Google or be forgotten like AltaVista? No one can know, but here's how to think about it. OpenAI's domination of the industry is striking. As the creator of ChatGPT, it recently attracted 78% of daily unique visitors to core model websites, with six competitors splitting up the rest, according to a recent 40-page report from J.P. Morgan. Even with that vast lead, the report shows, OpenAI is expanding its margin over its much smaller competitors, including even Gemini, which is part of Google and its giant parent, Alphabet (2024 revenue: $350 billion). The great question now is whether OpenAI can possibly maintain its wide lead (history would say no) or at least continue as the industry leader. The answer depends heavily on OpenAI's moat, a Warren Buffett term for any factor that protects the company and cannot be easily breached–think of Coca-Cola's brand or BNSF Railroad's economies of scale, to mention two of Buffett's successful investments. On that count the J.P. Morgan analysts are not optimistic. Specifically, they acknowledge that while OpenAI has led the industry in innovating its models, that strategy is 'an increasingly fragile moat.' Example: The company's most recent model, GPT-5, included multiple advances yet underwhelmed many users. As competitors inevitably catch up, the analysts conclude, 'Model commoditization is an increasingly likely outcome.' With innovations suffering short lives, OpenAI must now become 'a more product-focused, diversified organization that can operate at scale while retaining its position' at the top of the industry–skills the company has yet to demonstrate. Bottom line, OpenAI can maintain its leading rank in the industry, but it won't be easy, and betting on it could be risky. Yet a different view suggests OpenAI is much closer to creating a sustainable moat. It comes from Robert Siegel, a management lecturer at Stanford's Graduate School of Business who is also a venture capitalist and former executive at various companies, many in technology. He argues that OpenAI is already well along the road to achieving a valuable attribute, stickiness: The longer customers use something, the less likely they are to switch to a competitor. In OpenAI's case, 'people will only move to Perplexity or Gemini or other solutions if they get a better result,' he says. Yet that becomes unlikely because AI learns; the more you use a particular AI engine, the more it learns about you and what you want. 'If you keep putting questions into ChatGPT, which learns your behaviors better, and you like it, there's no reason to leave as long as it's competitive.' Now combine that logic with OpenAI's behavior. 'It seems like their strategy is to be ubiquitous,' Siegel says, putting ChatGPT in front of as many people as possible so the software can start learning about them before any competitor can get there first. Most famously, OpenAI released ChatGPT 3.5 to the public in 2022 for free, attracting a million users in five days and 100 million in two months. In addition, the company raised much investment early in the game, having been founded in 2015. Thus, Siegel says, OpenAI can 'continue to run hard and use capital as a moat so they can do all the things they need to do to be everywhere.' But Siegel, the J.P. Morgan analysts, and everyone else knows plenty can always go wrong. An obvious threat to OpenAI and most of its competitors is an open-source model such as China's DeepSeek, which appears to perform well at significantly lower costs. The venture capital that has poured into OpenAI could dry up as hundreds of other AI startups compete for financing. J.P. Morgan and Siegel agree that OpenAI's complex unconventional governance structure must be reformed; though a recently proposed structure has not been officially disclosed, it is reportedly topped by a nonprofit, which might worry profit-seeking investors. As for moats, OpenAI is obviously in the best position to build or strengthen one. But looking into the era of AI, the whole concept of the corporate moat may become meaningless. How long will it be, if it hasn't been done already, before a competitor asks its own AI engine, 'How do we defeat OpenAI's moat?' This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio

‘My Kid Will Never Ever Be Smarter Than an AI': OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Most Kids Won't Know a World Without AI
‘My Kid Will Never Ever Be Smarter Than an AI': OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Most Kids Won't Know a World Without AI

Yahoo

time19 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

‘My Kid Will Never Ever Be Smarter Than an AI': OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Most Kids Won't Know a World Without AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now so advanced that some experts believe no child will ever surpass its intelligence again. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, a central figure in the world of artificial intelligence, recently reflected on the transformative potential of AI advancements, and particularly their impact on the next generation. Speaking on a podcast, he remarked, 'My kid will never ever be smarter than an AI. That will never happen. You know, kid born a few years ago. They had a brief period of time. My kid never will be smarter.' More News from Barchart Warren Buffett Cautions Ill-Informed Investors: 'The Market, Like the Lord, Helps Those Who Help Themselves,' But Markets Are Unforgiving Can Archer Aviation Become the Tesla of the Skies? As Kodak Terminates Its Pension Plans, What Top Companies Still Offer This Retirement Perk? Our exclusive Barchart Brief newsletter is your FREE midday guide to what's moving stocks, sectors, and investor sentiment - delivered right when you need the info most. Subscribe today! Altman's statement captures a profound and ongoing shift, both in technology and society. As the current leader of OpenAI, the organization behind breakthroughs like the GPT-language model series and other advanced AI technologies, Altman's insights carry significant weight. His views are shaped by daily interactions with researchers pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve — tasks ranging from language generation and autonomous reasoning to problem-solving at a superhuman scale. When Altman says 'my kid will never be smarter than an AI,' he is not lamenting a loss, but observing a turning point in technology. Historically, each new generation had the chance to exceed the achievements of earlier ones, shaped by new education, tools, and inventions. Now, he says, a rapidly accelerating AI trajectory means that children born today will coexist with machines that learn and develop orders of magnitude faster, with access to vast data and computational resources. Altman's comment reflects both a recognition of what has already changed and a sense of inevitability about the future. The authority behind Altman's remark comes from his central role at OpenAI. Since its founding in 2015, OpenAI has led the development of generative AI with a philosophy that blends technological optimism and public caution. Altman, previously a leading Silicon Valley investor and technologist, has often spoken about the responsibility of the sector and the need for flexible, thoughtful policy as AI becomes increasingly integrated into everyday life and the economy. His assertion that no human — no matter how young or well-educated — could ever outpace AI is rooted in empirical reality. AI models now routinely outperform humans in specialized knowledge domains, can process and generate language with uncanny fluency, and are applied across finance, healthcare, logistics, and creative fields. The 'brief period of time' when a child or their peers could match or exceed machine intelligence may well have effectively vanished, as Altman suggests, replaced by a world where coexistence and collaboration with increasingly capable AI systems is the norm. This perspective is particularly salient as debates about job displacement, educational outcomes, and the essence of human endeavor gain prominence. Altman's comment is not simply an observation about his own family, but a reflection of the collective transition underway: society must adapt to new definitions of intellect, capability, and value in an era dominated by artificial intelligence. Experts suggest this requires a renewed emphasis on skills such as creativity, adaptability, and ethical reasoning — areas where machines may never fully overtake human strengths. For now, Altman's remark encapsulates the magnitude of change artificial intelligence is bringing to global culture, labor, and the imagination of what people can become. As AI evolves, the notion of human uniqueness is being redefined, not diminished — and it's a process that will shape the upbringing and prospects of generations to come. On the date of publication, Caleb Naysmith did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Silicon Valley talent keeps getting recycled, so this CEO uses a ‘moneyball' approach for uncovering hidden AI geniuses in the new era
Silicon Valley talent keeps getting recycled, so this CEO uses a ‘moneyball' approach for uncovering hidden AI geniuses in the new era

Yahoo

time19 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Silicon Valley talent keeps getting recycled, so this CEO uses a ‘moneyball' approach for uncovering hidden AI geniuses in the new era

The AI talent war among major tech companies is escalating, with firms like Meta offering extravagant $100 million signing bonuses to attract top researchers from competitors like OpenAI. But HelloSky has emerged to diversify the recruitment pool, using AI-driven data to map candidates' real-world impact and uncover hidden talent beyond traditional Silicon Valley networks. As AI becomes more ubiquitous, the need for the top-tier talent at tech firms becomes even more important—and it's starting a war among Big Tech, which is simultaneously churning through layoffs and poaching people from each other with eye-popping pay packages. Meta, for example, is dishing out $100 million signing bonuses to woo top OpenAI researchers. Others are scrambling to retain staff with massive bonuses and noncompete agreements. With such a seemingly small pool of researchers with the savvy to usher in new waves of AI developments, it's no wonder salaries have gotten so high. That's why one tech executive said companies will need to stop 'recycling' candidates from the same old Silicon Valley and Big Tech talent pools to make innovation happen. 'There's different biases and filters about people's pedigree or where they came from. But if you could truly map all of that and just give credit for some people that maybe went through alternate pathways [then you can] truly stack rank,' Alex Bates, founder and CEO of AI executive recruiting platform HelloSky, told Fortune. (In April, HelloSky announced the close of a $5.5 million oversubscribed seed round from investors like Caldwell Partners, Karmel Capital, True, Hunt Scanlon Ventures as well as prominent angel investors from Google and Cisco Systems). That's why Bates developed HelloSky, which consolidates candidate, company, talent, investor, and assessment data into a single GenAI-powered platform to help companies find candidates they might not have otherwise. Many tech companies pull from previous job descriptions and resume submissions to poach top talent, explained Bates, who also authored Augmented Mind about the relationship between humans and AI. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg even reportedly maintains a literal list of all the top talent he wants to poach for his Superintelligence Labs and has been heavily involved in his own company's recruiting strategies. But the AI talent wars will make it more difficult than ever to fill seats with experienced candidates. Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently lamented about how few candidates AI-focused companies have to pull from. 'The bet, the hope is they know how to discover the remaining ideas to get to superintelligence—that there are going to be a handful of algorithmic ideas and, you know, medium-sized handful of people who can figure them out,' Altman recently told CNBC. The 'moneyball' for finding top talent Bates refers to his platform as 'moneyball' for unearthing top talent—essentially a 'complete map' of real domain experts who may not be well-networked in Silicon Valley. Using AI, HelloSky can tag different candidates, map connections, and find people who may not have as much of a social media or job board presence, but have the necessary experience to succeed in high-level jobs. The platform scours not just resumes, but actual code contributions, peer-reviewed research, and even trending open-source projects, prioritizing measurable impact over flashy degrees. That way, companies can find candidates who have demonstrated outsized results in small, scrappy teams or other niche communities, similar to how the Oakland A's Billy Beane joined forces with Ivy League grad Peter Brand to reinvent traditional baseball scouting, which was depicted in the book and movie Moneyball. It's a 'big unlock for everything from hiring people, partnering, acquiring whatever, just everyone interested in this space,' Bates said. 'There's a lot of hidden talent globally.' HelloSky can also sense when certain candidates 'embellish' their experience on job platforms or fill in the gaps for people whose online presence is sparse. 'Maybe they said they had a billion-dollar IPO, but [really] they left two years before the IPO. We can surface that,' Bates said. 'But also we can give credit to people that maybe didn't brag sufficiently.' This helps companies find their 'diamond in the rough,' he added. Bates also predicts search firms and internal recruiters will start forcing assessments more on candidates to ensure they're the right fit for the job. 'If you can really target well and not waste so much time talking to the wrong people, then you can go much deeper into these next-gen behavioral assessment frameworks,' he said. 'I think that'll be the wave of the future.' This story was originally featured on

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store