American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:AMSC) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 32% gain in the last month alone. The annual gain comes to 231% following the latest surge, making investors sit up and take notice.

Following the firm bounce in price, you could be forgiven for thinking American Superconductor is a stock not worth researching with a price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") of 2.9x, considering almost half the companies in the United States' Electrical industry have P/S ratios below 1.7x. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the elevated P/S.

View our latest analysis for American Superconductor

How American Superconductor Has Been Performing

Recent revenue growth for American Superconductor has been in line with the industry. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to improve, justifying the currently elevated P/S. However, if this isn't the case, investors might get caught out paying too much for the stock.

Is There Enough Revenue Growth Forecasted For American Superconductor?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, American Superconductor would need to produce impressive growth in excess of the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 14%. This was backed up an excellent period prior to see revenue up by 53% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenues over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the three analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 15% over the next year. With the industry predicted to deliver 25% growth, the company is positioned for a weaker revenue result.

With this information, we find it concerning that American Superconductor is trading at a P/S higher than the industry. Apparently many investors in the company are way more bullish than analysts indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock at any price. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as this level of revenue growth is likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.

The Bottom Line On American Superconductor's P/S

American Superconductor's P/S is on the rise since its shares have risen strongly. We'd say the price-to-sales ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

Despite analysts forecasting some poorer-than-industry revenue growth figures for American Superconductor, this doesn't appear to be impacting the P/S in the slightest. Right now we aren't comfortable with the high P/S as the predicted future revenues aren't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. At these price levels, investors should remain cautious, particularly if things don't improve.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for American Superconductor that you should be aware of.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.