Metro Land Corporation Ltd. (SHSE:600683) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 35% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Looking further back, the 21% rise over the last twelve months isn't too bad notwithstanding the strength over the last 30 days.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, Metro Land may still be sending buy signals at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.3x, considering almost half of all companies in the Real Estate industry in China have P/S ratios greater than 1.7x and even P/S higher than 4x aren't out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

What Does Metro Land's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Metro Land 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. Those who are bullish on Metro Land will be hoping that this isn't the case, so that they can pick up the stock at a lower valuation.

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

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

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 146%. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 117% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenue over that time.

When compared to the industry's one-year growth forecast of 8.6%, the most recent medium-term revenue trajectory is noticeably more alluring

With this in mind, we find it intriguing that Metro Land's P/S isn't as high compared to that of its industry peers. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance has exceeded its limits and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

The Key Takeaway

Metro Land's stock price has surged recently, but its but its P/S still remains modest. It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

We're very surprised to see Metro Land 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. At least price risks look to be very low if recent medium-term revenue trends continue, but investors seem to think future revenue could see a lot of volatility.

It is also worth noting that we have found 3 warning signs for Metro Land (2 are concerning!) that you need to take into consideration.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Metro Land, 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.