The Soluna Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLNH) share price has fared very poorly over the last month, falling by a substantial 31%. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 44% share price drop.

Since its price has dipped substantially, Soluna Holdings may look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.5x, considering almost half of all companies in the Software industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 5.5x and even P/S higher than 13x aren't out of the ordinary. However, the P/S might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

How Soluna Holdings Has Been Performing

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Soluna Holdings as its revenue has been rising very briskly. It might be that many expect the strong revenue performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/S ratio. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Soluna Holdings?

Soluna Holdings' P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling revenue, and importantly, perform much worse than the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 163% gain to the company's top line. Although, its longer-term performance hasn't been as strong with three-year revenue growth being relatively non-existent overall. Accordingly, shareholders probably wouldn't have been overly satisfied with the unstable medium-term growth rates.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 26% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we can see why Soluna Holdings is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. It seems most investors are expecting to see the recent limited growth rates continue into the future and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Final Word

Having almost fallen off a cliff, Soluna Holdings' share price has pulled its P/S way down as well. 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 Soluna Holdings 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. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it's hard to see the share price experience a reversal of fortunes anytime soon.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 5 warning signs for Soluna Holdings (of which 3 shouldn't be ignored!) you should know about.

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).

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.