When you see that almost half of the companies in the Media industry in the United States have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1x, PubMatic, Inc. (NASDAQ:PUBM) looks to be giving off strong sell signals with its 3.2x P/S ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so lofty.

Check out our latest analysis for PubMatic

What Does PubMatic's Recent Performance Look Like?

While the industry has experienced revenue growth lately, PubMatic's revenue has gone into reverse gear, which is not great. It might be that many expect the dour revenue performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/S from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The High P/S Ratio?

PubMatic's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the industry.

Taking a look back first, we see that there was hardly any revenue growth to speak of for the company over the past year. Still, the latest three year period has seen an excellent 102% overall rise in revenue, in spite of its uninspiring short-term performance. Accordingly, shareholders will be pleased, but also have some questions to ponder about the last 12 months.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 11% each year as estimated by the eleven analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 3.8% each year growth forecast for the broader industry.

In light of this, it's understandable that PubMatic's P/S sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Bottom Line On PubMatic's P/S

Using the price-to-sales ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

Our look into PubMatic shows that its P/S ratio remains high on the merit of its strong future revenues. It appears that shareholders are confident in the company's future revenues, which is propping up the P/S. Unless the analysts have really missed the mark, these strong revenue forecasts should keep the share price buoyant.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for PubMatic you should know about.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.