Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 26% share price drop in the last month. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 25% share price drop.

Although its price has dipped substantially, given around half the companies in the United States' Healthcare Services industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 2x, you may still consider Certara as a stock to avoid entirely with its 5.4x P/S ratio. However, the P/S might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

What Does Certara's Recent Performance Look Like?

With revenue growth that's inferior to most other companies of late, Certara has been relatively sluggish. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to undergo a reversal of fortunes, which has elevated the P/S ratio. However, if this isn't the case, investors might get caught out paying too much for the stock.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The High P/S Ratio?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as steep as Certara's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the industry decidedly.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 3.3%. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 39% overall rise in revenue, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 10% per annum as estimated by the ten analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be similar to the 11% per year growth forecast for the broader industry.

In light of this, it's curious that Certara's P/S sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly average growth expectations and are willing to pay up for exposure to the stock. Although, additional gains will be difficult to achieve as this level of revenue growth is likely to weigh down the share price eventually.

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

Even after such a strong price drop, Certara's P/S still exceeds the industry median significantly. 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.

Analysts are forecasting Certara's revenues to only grow on par with the rest of the industry, which has lead to the high P/S ratio being unexpected. The fact that the revenue figures aren't setting the world alight has us doubtful that the company's elevated P/S can be sustainable for the long term. This places shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium.

A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. You can assess many of the main risks through our free balance sheet analysis for Certara with six simple checks.

If you're unsure about the strength of Certara'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.