When you see that almost half of the companies in the Consumer Durables industry in the United States have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 0.7x, Sonos, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONO) looks to be giving off some sell signals with its 1.2x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the elevated P/S.

What Does Sonos' P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Sonos could be doing better as its revenue has been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive revenue growth. Perhaps the market is expecting the poor revenue to reverse, justifying it's current high P/S.. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

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

Sonos' P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than the industry.

In reviewing the last year of financials, we were disheartened to see the company's revenues fell to the tune of 8.3%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk revenue by 12% in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 4.2% per annum as estimated by the five analysts watching the company. With the industry predicted to deliver 6.0% growth each year, the company is positioned for a comparable revenue result.

With this in consideration, we find it intriguing that Sonos' P/S is higher than its industry peers. Apparently many investors in the company are more bullish than analysts indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. These shareholders may be setting themselves up for disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the growth outlook.

What Does Sonos' P/S Mean For Investors?

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.

Given Sonos' future revenue forecasts are in line with the wider industry, the fact that it trades at an elevated P/S is somewhat surprising. Right now we are uncomfortable with the relatively high share price as the predicted future revenues aren't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. This places shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium.

Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. You can assess many of the main risks through our free balance sheet analysis for Sonos with six simple checks.

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.

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