So far in 2017 one of the best performers on the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has been the Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) share price.
Year-to-date the gaming technology company's shares are up over 36%.
Is it too late to invest?
I don't believe for a second that it is too late to invest in this fast-growing company.
Although at 27x annualised earnings its shares trade at a premium to the market average, I believe the growth that the company is exhibiting more than justifies the lofty earnings multiple.
After all, in May the company reported that first-half net profit after tax and before amortisation of acquired intangibles (NPATA) increased by 49% to $272.9 million.
While full-year NPATA growth is expected to come in at a slower rate of between 20% and 30%, this is the result of its planned increase in design and development and the impact of new openings in the first-half of the financial year.
The company may receive an additional boost in the second-half from the acquisition of social gaming company Plarium for an upfront amount of US$500 million in cash.
Plarium is the company behind the incredibly popular Vikings: War of Clans. I expect the addition of this and eight other titles should bolster the already impressive performance of Aristocrat's digital segment.
In the first-half the segment saw its daily active users increase 11.6% to 1.4 million and its average revenue per active daily user jump 22.5% to 49 U.S. cents.
Foolish Takeaway
Overall, I think that Aristocrat Leisure is one of the best growth shares on the local market at the moment and trades on a reasonable valuation given its current growth profile. In light of this, I would class it as a buy, ahead of rival Ainsworth Game Technology Limited (ASX: AGI).
