Despite an already strong run, Leo Group Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002131) shares have been powering on, with a gain of 30% in the last thirty days. The bad news is that even after the stocks recovery in the last 30 days, shareholders are still underwater by about 3.9% over the last year.

Although its price has surged higher, Leo Group may still be sending very 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 Media industry in China have P/S ratios greater than 3.3x and even P/S higher than 7x 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 so limited.

How Leo Group Has Been Performing

We'd have to say that with no tangible growth over the last year, Leo Group's revenue has been unimpressive. One possibility is that the P/S is low because investors think this benign revenue growth rate will likely underperform the broader industry in the near future. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Leo Group?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as depressed as Leo Group's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry decidedly.

Taking a look back first, we see that there was hardly any revenue growth to speak of for the company over the past year. Fortunately, a few good years before that means that it was still able to grow revenue by 6.7% in total over the last three years. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing revenue over that time.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 15% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is weaker, based on recent medium-term annualised revenue results.

With this in consideration, it's easy to understand why Leo Group's P/S falls short of the mark set by its industry peers. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the wider industry.

The Final Word

Leo Group's recent share price jump still sees fails to bring its P/S alongside the industry median. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

As we suspected, our examination of Leo Group revealed its three-year revenue trends are contributing to its low P/S, given they look worse than current industry expectations. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Leo Group, and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.