With a median price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of close to 1x in the Food industry in the United States, you could be forgiven for feeling indifferent about Beyond Meat, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:BYND) P/S ratio of 1.4x. However, investors might be overlooking a clear opportunity or potential setback if there is no rational basis for the P/S.

What Does Beyond Meat's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Beyond Meat hasn't been tracking well recently as its declining revenue compares poorly to other companies, which have seen some growth in their revenues on average. It might be that many expect the dour revenue performance to strengthen positively, which has kept the P/S from falling. However, if this isn't the case, investors might get caught out paying too much for the stock.

Is There Some Revenue Growth Forecasted For Beyond Meat?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Beyond Meat would need to produce growth that's similar to the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 19% decrease to the company's top line. This means it has also seen a slide in revenue over the longer-term as revenue is down 22% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 4.8% per annum as estimated by the ten analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be similar to the 3.2% per year growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this in mind, it makes sense that Beyond Meat's P/S is closely matching its industry peers. Apparently shareholders are comfortable to simply hold on while the company is keeping a low profile.

The Bottom Line On Beyond Meat's P/S

Using the price-to-sales ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

We've seen that Beyond Meat maintains an adequate P/S seeing as its revenue growth figures match the rest of the industry. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement or deterioration in revenue isn't great enough to push P/S in a higher or lower direction. If all things remain constant, the possibility of a drastic share price movement remains fairly remote.

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Beyond Meat (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you need to take into consideration.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So if growing profitability aligns with your idea of a great company, take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.

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