When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 16x, you may consider The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 27.4x 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.

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Recent times have been advantageous for Walt Disney as its earnings have been rising faster 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.

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Is There Enough Growth For Walt Disney?

Walt Disney'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 90% gain to the company's bottom line. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 79% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 26% per year during the coming three years according to the analysts following the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 11% per annum, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

In light of this, it's understandable that Walt Disney's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

What We Can Learn From Walt Disney's P/E?

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.

We've established that Walt Disney maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

If you're unsure about the strength of Walt Disney's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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.