Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 29% share price drop in the last month. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 41% share price drop.

Although its price has dipped substantially, Confluent's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 7.4x might still make it look like a strong sell right now compared to other companies in the Software industry in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios below 4.3x and even P/S below 1.7x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/S.

How Has Confluent Performed Recently?

Confluent certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing revenue more than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the strong revenue performance to persist, which has raised the P/S. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

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

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Confluent would need to produce outstanding growth that's well in excess of the industry.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew revenue by an impressive 27% last year. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow revenue by 191% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenue over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 22% each year as estimated by the analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to only expand by 18% per annum, which is noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that Confluent's P/S sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Bottom Line On Confluent's P/S

Confluent's shares may have suffered, but its P/S remains high. 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.

As we suspected, our examination of Confluent's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior revenue outlook is contributing to its high P/S. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/S as they are quite confident future revenues aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 3 warning signs for Confluent you should be aware of.

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.