It's not a stretch to say that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A.'s (NYSE:SQM) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 2.1x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" for companies in the Electrical industry in the United States, where the median P/S ratio is around 1.7x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/S without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

What Does Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile's Recent Performance Look Like?

While the industry has experienced revenue growth lately, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile's revenue has gone into reverse gear, which is not great. It might be that many expect the dour revenue performance to strengthen positively, which has kept the P/S from falling. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a relatively elevated price for a company with this sort of growth profile.

Is There Some Revenue Growth Forecasted For Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile would need to produce growth that's similar to 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 43%. However, a few very strong years before that means that it was still able to grow revenue by an impressive 222% in total over the last three years. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the revenue growth recently has been more than adequate for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 5.0% per annum as estimated by the analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 45% each year growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this information, we find it interesting that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly limited growth expectations and are willing to pay up for exposure to the stock. These shareholders may be setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the growth outlook.

The Key Takeaway

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

Given that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile's revenue growth projections are relatively subdued in comparison to the wider industry, it comes as a surprise to see it trading at its current P/S ratio. When we see companies with a relatively weaker revenue outlook compared to the industry, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the moderate P/S lower. This places shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 3 warning signs for Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile you should be aware of, and 1 of them shouldn't be ignored.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.