Those holding Royale Home Holdings Limited (HKG:1198) shares would be relieved that the share price has rebounded 29% in the last thirty days, but it needs to keep going to repair the recent damage it has caused to investor portfolios. Still, the 30-day jump doesn't change the fact that longer term shareholders have seen their stock decimated by the 55% share price drop in the last twelve months.

Following the firm bounce in price, you could be forgiven for thinking Royale Home Holdings is a stock not worth researching with a price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") of 1.5x, considering almost half the companies in Hong Kong's Consumer Durables industry have P/S ratios below 0.5x. However, the P/S might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

How Has Royale Home Holdings Performed Recently?

As an illustration, revenue has deteriorated at Royale Home Holdings over the last year, which is not ideal at all. One possibility is that the P/S is high because investors think the company will still do enough to outperform the broader industry in the near future. However, if this isn't the case, investors might get caught out paying too much for the stock.

How Is Royale Home Holdings' Revenue Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should outperform the industry for P/S ratios like Royale Home Holdings' to be considered reasonable.

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 13%. Still, the latest three year period has seen an excellent 128% overall rise in revenue, in spite of its unsatisfying short-term performance. Accordingly, while they would have preferred to keep the run going, shareholders would definitely welcome the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 34% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is pretty similar based on recent medium-term annualised revenue results.

In light of this, it's curious that Royale Home Holdings' P/S sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly average recent growth rates and are willing to pay up for exposure to the stock. Nevertheless, they may be setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with recent growth rates.

What We Can Learn From Royale Home Holdings' P/S?

Royale Home Holdings' P/S is on the rise since its shares have risen strongly. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

Our look into Royale Home Holdings has shown that it currently trades on a higher than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is only in line with the wider industry forecast. Right now we are uncomfortable with the high P/S as this revenue performance isn't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, it's challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

You need to take note of risks, for example - Royale Home Holdings has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So if growing profitability aligns with your idea of a great company, take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.