Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Summit Ascent Holdings Limited (HKG:102) share price has dived 26% in the last thirty days, prolonging recent pain. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 46% share price drop.

Following the heavy fall in price, given about half the companies operating in Hong Kong's Hospitality industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 1.5x, you may consider Summit Ascent Holdings as an attractive investment with its 1x P/S ratio. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

View our latest analysis for Summit Ascent Holdings

How Summit Ascent Holdings Has Been Performing

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Summit Ascent Holdings as its revenue has been rising very briskly. It might be that many expect the strong revenue performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/S ratio. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

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

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 48% gain to the company's top line. The latest three year period has also seen a 11% overall rise in revenue, aided extensively by its short-term performance. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably been satisfied with the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing the recent medium-term revenue trends against the industry's one-year growth forecast of 42% shows it's noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we can see why Summit Ascent Holdings is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the wider industry.

The Key Takeaway

Summit Ascent Holdings' recently weak share price has pulled its P/S back below other Hospitality companies. 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.

Our examination of Summit Ascent Holdings confirms that the company's revenue trends over the past three-year years are a key factor in its low price-to-sales ratio, as we suspected, given they fall short of current industry expectations. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 3 warning signs for Summit Ascent Holdings (1 is a bit concerning!) that we have uncovered.

If strong companies turning a profit tickle your fancy, then you'll want to check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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.