Inspirato Incorporated (NASDAQ:ISPO) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 27% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Taking a wider view, although not as strong as the last month, the full year gain of 21% is also fairly reasonable.

Even after such a large jump in price, Inspirato's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.2x might still make it look like a buy right now compared to the Hospitality 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. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

What Does Inspirato's Recent Performance Look Like?

As an illustration, revenue has deteriorated at Inspirato over the last year, which is not ideal at all. Perhaps the market believes the recent revenue performance isn't good enough to keep up the industry, causing the P/S ratio to suffer. However, if this doesn't eventuate then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Inspirato?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as low as Inspirato's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry.

Taking a look back first, the company's revenue growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 17%. Still, the latest three year period has seen an excellent 39% overall rise in revenue, in spite of its unsatisfying short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a very good job of growing revenue over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

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

With this information, we find it odd that Inspirato is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. It may be that most investors are not convinced the company can maintain recent growth rates.

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

The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift Inspirato's P/S close to the industry median. 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.

Our examination of Inspirato revealed its three-year revenue trends looking similar to current industry expectations hasn't given the P/S the boost we expected, given that it's lower than the wider industry P/S, There could be some unobserved threats to revenue preventing the P/S ratio from matching the company's performance. While recent

Plus, you should also learn about these 4 warning signs we've spotted with Inspirato (including 3 which make us uncomfortable).

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Inspirato, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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.