Despite an already strong run, Zhongyan Technology Co., Ltd. (SZSE:003001) shares have been powering on, with a gain of 28% in the last thirty days. Taking a wider view, although not as strong as the last month, the full year gain of 14% is also fairly reasonable.

After such a large jump in price, given close to half the companies operating in China's Construction industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1x, you may consider Zhongyan Technology as a stock to potentially avoid with its 2.5x P/S ratio. However, the P/S might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

How Zhongyan Technology Has Been Performing

The recent revenue growth at Zhongyan Technology would have to be considered satisfactory if not spectacular. It might be that many expect the reasonable revenue performance to beat most other companies over the coming period, which has increased investors' willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

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

There's an inherent assumption that a company should outperform the industry for P/S ratios like Zhongyan Technology's to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 6.8% gain to the company's revenues. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen an unpleasant 28% overall drop in revenue. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 13% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a sobering picture.

With this information, we find it concerning that Zhongyan Technology is trading at a P/S higher than the industry. Apparently many investors in the company are way more bullish than recent times would indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock at any price. There's a very good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the recent negative growth rates.

The Final Word

The large bounce in Zhongyan Technology's shares has lifted the company's P/S handsomely. While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

We've established that Zhongyan Technology currently trades on a much higher than expected P/S since its recent revenues have been in decline over the medium-term. When we see revenue heading backwards and underperforming the industry forecasts, we feel the possibility of the share price declining is very real, bringing the P/S back into the realm of reasonability. Should recent medium-term revenue trends persist, it would pose a significant risk to existing shareholders' investments and prospective investors will have a hard time accepting the current value of the stock.

Plus, you should also learn about these 2 warning signs we've spotted with Zhongyan Technology (including 1 which doesn't sit too well with us).

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.

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