Zhejiang Haiyan Power System Resources Environmental Technology Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:688565) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 25% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 35% over that time.

Even after such a large jump in price, it's still not a stretch to say that Zhejiang Haiyan Power System Resources Environmental TechnologyLtd's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 3.2x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Machinery industry in China, where the median P/S ratio is around 2.7x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/S ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

How Zhejiang Haiyan Power System Resources Environmental TechnologyLtd Has Been Performing

Zhejiang Haiyan Power System Resources Environmental TechnologyLtd has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing revenue at a solid pace. It might be that many expect the respectable revenue performance to wane, which has kept the P/S from rising. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The P/S?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Zhejiang Haiyan Power System Resources Environmental TechnologyLtd would need to produce growth that's similar to the industry.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew revenue by an impressive 29% last year. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen the company endure a nasty 15% drop in revenue in aggregate. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing revenues over that time.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 25% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this in mind, we find it worrying that Zhejiang Haiyan Power System Resources Environmental TechnologyLtd's P/S exceeds that of its industry peers. 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 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.

The Final Word

Zhejiang Haiyan Power System Resources Environmental TechnologyLtd's stock has a lot of momentum behind it lately, which has brought its P/S level with the rest of the industry. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

We find it unexpected that Zhejiang Haiyan Power System Resources Environmental TechnologyLtd trades at a P/S ratio that is comparable to the rest of the industry, despite experiencing declining revenues during the medium-term, while the industry as a whole is expected to grow. When we see revenue heading backwards in the context of growing industry forecasts, it'd make sense to expect a possible share price decline on the horizon, sending the moderate P/S lower. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it will place shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 2 warning signs for Zhejiang Haiyan Power System Resources Environmental TechnologyLtd that you should be aware of.

If you're unsure about the strength of Zhejiang Haiyan Power System Resources Environmental TechnologyLtd'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.