Those holding Changchun Yidong Clutch CO.,LTD (SHSE:600148) shares would be relieved that the share price has rebounded 34% in the last thirty days, but it needs to keep going to repair the recent damage it has caused to investor portfolios. Unfortunately, despite the strong performance over the last month, the full year gain of 2.8% isn't as attractive.

Following the firm bounce in price, given close to half the companies operating in China's Auto Components industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 2.5x, you may consider Changchun Yidong ClutchLTD as a stock to potentially avoid with its 3.5x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the elevated P/S.

How Changchun Yidong ClutchLTD Has Been Performing

We'd have to say that with no tangible growth over the last year, Changchun Yidong ClutchLTD's revenue has been unimpressive. It might be that many are expecting an improvement to the uninspiring revenue performance over the coming period, which has kept the P/S from collapsing. However, if this isn't the case, investors might get caught out paying too much for the stock.

How Is Changchun Yidong ClutchLTD's Revenue Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should outperform the industry for P/S ratios like Changchun Yidong ClutchLTD's to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, we see that there was hardly any revenue growth to speak of for the company over the past year. The lack of growth did nothing to help the company's aggregate three-year performance, which is an unsavory 48% drop in revenue. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 22% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a sobering picture.

In light of this, it's alarming that Changchun Yidong ClutchLTD's P/S sits above the majority of other companies. 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 We Can Learn From Changchun Yidong ClutchLTD's P/S?

Changchun Yidong ClutchLTD's P/S is on the rise since its shares have risen strongly. 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 Changchun Yidong ClutchLTD currently trades on a much higher than expected P/S since its recent revenues have been in decline over the medium-term. Right now we aren't comfortable with the high P/S as this revenue performance is highly unlikely to support such positive sentiment for long. Unless the the circumstances surrounding the recent medium-term improve, it wouldn't be wrong to expect a a difficult period ahead for the company's shareholders.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 1 warning sign for Changchun Yidong ClutchLTD that we have uncovered.

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

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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.