The Yatsen Holding Limited (NYSE:YSG) share price has softened a substantial 31% over the previous 30 days, handing back much of the gains the stock has made lately. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 39% in that time.

Since its price has dipped substantially, Yatsen Holding may be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.7x, since almost half of all companies in the Personal Products industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 1.8x and even P/S higher than 4x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

How Yatsen Holding Has Been Performing

Yatsen Holding could be doing better as its revenue has been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive revenue growth. The P/S ratio is probably low because investors think this poor revenue performance isn't going to get any better. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

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

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Yatsen Holding would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing 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 4.4%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk revenue by 40% in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 11% during the coming year according to the four analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to only expand by 7.4%, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we find it odd that Yatsen Holding is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. It looks like most investors are not convinced at all that the company can achieve future growth expectations.

The Bottom Line On Yatsen Holding's P/S

Yatsen Holding's recently weak share price has pulled its P/S back below other Personal Products companies. 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.

Yatsen Holding's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior revenue outlook isn't contributing to its P/S anywhere near as much as we would have predicted. The reason for this depressed P/S could potentially be found in the risks the market is pricing in. While the possibility of the share price plunging seems unlikely due to the high growth forecasted for the company, the market does appear to have some hesitation.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Yatsen Holding you should know about.

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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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.