Clear Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 30% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. Not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 31% in the last twelve months.

Even after such a large jump in price, Clear Secure may still be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 3.4x, since almost half of all companies in the Software industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 4.4x and even P/S higher than 11x 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 limited.

View our latest analysis for Clear Secure

What Does Clear Secure's Recent Performance Look Like?

Clear Secure certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing revenue more than most other companies. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to dive, which has kept the P/S suppressed. 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 Clear Secure?

Clear Secure'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.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 46%. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow revenue by 147% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenue over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 17% per annum as estimated by the eight analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be similar to the 16% per annum growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this in consideration, we find it intriguing that Clear Secure's P/S is lagging behind its industry peers. It may be that most investors are not convinced the company can achieve future growth expectations.

The Bottom Line On Clear Secure's P/S

Despite Clear Secure's share price climbing recently, its P/S still lags most other companies. It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

We've seen that Clear Secure currently trades on a lower than expected P/S since its forecast growth is in line with the wider industry. The low P/S could be an indication that the revenue growth estimates are being questioned by the market. Perhaps investors are concerned that the company could underperform against the forecasts over the near term.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Clear Secure that you should be aware of.

Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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