Dogness (International) Corporation (NASDAQ:DOGZ) shares have had a horrible month, losing 27% after a relatively good period beforehand. For any long-term shareholders, the last month ends a year to forget by locking in a 84% share price decline.

In spite of the heavy fall in price, you could still be forgiven for thinking Dogness (International) is a stock not worth researching with a price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") of 1.9x, considering almost half the companies in the United States' Luxury industry have P/S ratios below 0.7x. However, the P/S might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

How Has Dogness (International) Performed Recently?

For example, consider that Dogness (International)'s financial performance has been poor lately as its revenue has been in decline. Perhaps the market believes the company can do enough to outperform the rest of the industry in the near future, which is keeping the P/S ratio high. If not, then existing shareholders may be quite nervous about the viability of the share price.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The High P/S Ratio?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as high as Dogness (International)'s is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the industry.

Taking a look back first, the company's revenue growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 35%. This means it has also seen a slide in revenue over the longer-term as revenue is down 8.3% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 7.0% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this information, we find it concerning that Dogness (International) is trading at a P/S higher than the industry. It seems most investors are ignoring the recent poor growth rate and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. There's a very good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the recent negative growth rates.

What Does Dogness (International)'s P/S Mean For Investors?

Despite the recent share price weakness, Dogness (International)'s P/S remains higher than most other companies in the industry. It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

We've established that Dogness (International) currently trades on a much higher than expected P/S since its recent revenues have been in decline over the medium-term. When we see revenue heading backwards and underperforming the industry forecasts, we feel the possibility of the share price declining is very real, bringing the P/S back into the realm of reasonability. Should recent medium-term revenue trends persist, it would pose a significant risk to existing shareholders' investments and prospective investors will have a hard time accepting the current value of the stock.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 3 warning signs for Dogness (International) (2 don't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If strong companies turning a profit tickle your fancy, then you'll want to check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.