ALGN

At 29x, investors are paying up; a fair amount of future growth is already in the price.

Share price divided by earnings per share: what you pay for each $1 of yearly profit. Roughly 15 to 25 is typical, above 40 is richly priced, and negative means the company is losing money.

This company pays no dividend, common for firms reinvesting their profits back into growth.

The yearly dividend as a percent of the share price: the cash income each share pays out. Around 2 to 6% is healthy; above roughly 8% often signals the payout may be cut.

A 10.2% margin is solid, in the ordinary range for a profitable company.

The share of revenue left as profit once every cost is paid. Above 15% is strong; below 5% leaves little cushion against a bad year.

A 10.1% return on equity is respectable, in the normal range.

Profit earned on each dollar of shareholder equity: how well the company compounds its owners' capital. Above 15% is strong.

A 6.6% return on assets is reasonable for a company of this kind.

Profit earned on each dollar of assets: how efficiently the whole asset base is used. Above 8% is strong.

At 1.36, short-term assets cover short-term bills with a little room to spare.

Current assets divided by current liabilities: whether short-term resources cover short-term bills. Above 1.5 is comfortable; below 1 is tight.

Revenue grew 0.9% from the prior year: steady, modest expansion.

Change in annual revenue from the prior fiscal year: whether the top line is expanding. Above 10% is strong growth; below 0 means revenue is shrinking.