Kunshan Kersen Science & Technology Co.,Ltd.'s (SHSE:603626) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.7x might make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the Electronic industry in China, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 4.5x and even P/S above 9x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/S.
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What Does Kunshan Kersen Science & TechnologyLtd's P/S Mean For Shareholders?
For instance, Kunshan Kersen Science & TechnologyLtd's receding revenue in recent times would have to be some food for thought. One possibility is that the P/S is low because investors think the company won't do enough to avoid underperforming the broader industry in the near future. Those who are bullish on Kunshan Kersen Science & TechnologyLtd will be hoping that this isn't the case so that they can pick up the stock at a lower valuation.
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Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Kunshan Kersen Science & TechnologyLtd?
Kunshan Kersen Science & TechnologyLtd's 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 a frustrating 28% decrease to the company's top line. This means it has also seen a slide in revenue over the longer-term as revenue is down 12% in total over the last three years. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing revenue over that time.
In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 64% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.
In light of this, it's understandable that Kunshan Kersen Science & TechnologyLtd's P/S would sit below the majority of other companies. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent revenue trends are already weighing down the shares.
The Bottom Line On Kunshan Kersen Science & TechnologyLtd's P/S
Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.
As we suspected, our examination of Kunshan Kersen Science & TechnologyLtd revealed its shrinking revenue over the medium-term is contributing to its low P/S, given the industry is set to grow. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. Given the current circumstances, it seems unlikely that the share price will experience any significant movement in either direction in the near future if recent medium-term revenue trends persist.
Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. You can assess many of the main risks through our free balance sheet analysis for Kunshan Kersen Science & TechnologyLtd with six simple checks.
If you're unsure about the strength of Kunshan Kersen Science & TechnologyLtd'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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