For beginners, it can seem like a good idea (and an exciting prospect) to buy a company that tells a good story to investors, even if it currently lacks a track record of revenue and profit. Sometimes these stories can cloud the minds of investors, leading them to invest with their emotions rather than on the merit of good company fundamentals. A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up.

In contrast to all that, many investors prefer to focus on companies like Rotork (LON:ROR), which has not only revenues, but also profits. While profit isn't the sole metric that should be considered when investing, it's worth recognising businesses that can consistently produce it.

See our latest analysis for Rotork

How Quickly Is Rotork Increasing Earnings Per Share?

If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS) outcomes. 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 Rotork grew its EPS by 12% 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. EBIT margins for Rotork remained fairly unchanged over the last year, however the company should be pleased to report its revenue growth for the period of 7.1% to UK￡746m. That's a real positive.

In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings and revenue, over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.

In investing, as in life, the future matters more than the past. So why not check out this free interactive visualization of Rotork's forecast profits?

Are Rotork Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

As a general rule, it's worth considering how much the CEO is paid, since unreasonably high rates could be considered against the interests of shareholders. For companies with market capitalisations between UK￡1.5b and UK￡4.8b, like Rotork, the median CEO pay is around UK￡2.0m.

Rotork offered total compensation worth UK￡1.6m to its CEO in the year to December 2023. That seems pretty reasonable, especially given it's below the median for similar sized companies. CEO compensation is hardly the most important aspect of a company to consider, but when it's reasonable, that gives a little more confidence that leadership are looking out for shareholder interests. Generally, arguments can be made that reasonable pay levels attest to good decision-making.