Baozun Inc. (NASDAQ:BZUN) shareholders have had their patience rewarded with a 29% share price jump in the last month. The bad news is that even after the stocks recovery in the last 30 days, shareholders are still underwater by about 6.7% over the last year.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, Baozun may still be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.1x, since almost half of all companies in the Multiline Retail industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 0.9x and even P/S higher than 3x are not unusual. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

What Does Baozun's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Baozun could be doing better as it's been growing revenue less than most other companies lately. Perhaps the market is expecting the current trend of poor revenue growth to continue, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

Baozun's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the industry.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow revenues by a handy 5.6% last year. Still, lamentably revenue has fallen 5.5% in aggregate from three years ago, which is disappointing. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 5.0% per year during the coming three years according to the nine analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 12% per annum, which is noticeably more attractive.

With this information, we can see why Baozun is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.

What Does Baozun's P/S Mean For Investors?

Baozun's stock price has surged recently, but its but its P/S still remains modest. 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.

As we suspected, our examination of Baozun's analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior revenue outlook is contributing to its low P/S. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

The company's balance sheet is another key area for risk analysis. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for Baozun with six simple checks on some of these key factors.

If you're unsure about the strength of Baozun's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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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.