TH International Limited (NASDAQ:THCH) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 35% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Still, the 30-day jump doesn't change the fact that longer term shareholders have seen their stock decimated by the 54% share price drop in the last twelve months.

Even after such a large jump in price, TH International may still be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.6x, since almost half of all companies in the Hospitality industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 1.5x and even P/S higher than 4x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

How Has TH International Performed Recently?

Revenue has risen firmly for TH International recently, which is pleasing to see. Perhaps the market is expecting this acceptable revenue performance to take a dive, which has kept the P/S suppressed. 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 out of favour.

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

There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the industry for P/S ratios like TH International's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 13%. This was backed up an excellent period prior to see revenue up by 293% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.

Comparing that to the industry, which is only predicted to deliver 13% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is stronger based on recent medium-term annualised revenue results.

In light of this, it's peculiar that TH International's P/S sits below the majority of other companies. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

The Final Word

The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift TH International's P/S close to the industry median. While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

We're very surprised to see TH International currently trading on a much lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. Potential investors that are sceptical over continued revenue performance may be preventing the P/S ratio from matching previous strong performance. While recent revenue trends over the past medium-term suggest that the risk of a price decline is low, investors appear to perceive a likelihood of revenue fluctuations in the future.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 4 warning signs with TH International (at least 3 which can't be ignored), and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on TH International, 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.