NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 33% after a shaky period beforehand. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 50%.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, NN's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.4x might still make it look like a buy right now compared to the Machinery industry in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 1.6x and even P/S above 4x are quite common. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

What Does NN's Recent Performance Look Like?

While the industry has experienced revenue growth lately, NN's revenue has gone into reverse gear, which is not great. The P/S ratio is probably low because investors think this poor revenue performance isn't going to get any better. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

How Is NN's Revenue Growth Trending?

NN's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the industry.

In reviewing the last year of financials, we were disheartened to see the company's revenues fell to the tune of 2.9%. This has soured the latest three-year period, which nevertheless managed to deliver a decent 10% overall rise in revenue. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the revenue growth recently has been mostly respectable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the four analysts covering the company suggest revenue growth is heading into negative territory, declining 6.4% over the next year. With the industry predicted to deliver 1.5% growth, that's a disappointing outcome.

With this information, we are not surprised that NN is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. However, shrinking revenues are unlikely to lead to a stable P/S over the longer term. There's potential for the P/S to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its top-line growth.

What Does NN's P/S Mean For Investors?

Despite NN's share price climbing recently, its P/S still lags most other companies. 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.

With revenue forecasts that are inferior to the rest of the industry, it's no surprise that NN's P/S is on the lower end of the spectrum. As other companies in the industry are forecasting revenue growth, NN's poor outlook justifies its low P/S ratio. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Having said that, be aware NN is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, you should know about.

Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com