Those holding Fujian Green Pine Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300132) shares would be relieved that the share price has rebounded 27% in the last thirty days, but it needs to keep going to repair the recent damage it has caused to investor portfolios. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 43% over that time.

Even after such a large jump in price, Fujian Green Pine's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.9x might still make it look like a buy right now compared to the Chemicals industry in China, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 2.1x and even P/S above 5x are quite common. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

How Has Fujian Green Pine Performed Recently?

Fujian Green Pine could be doing better as its revenue has been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive revenue growth. The P/S ratio is probably low because investors think this poor revenue performance isn't going to get any better. So while you could say the stock is cheap, investors will be looking for improvement before they see it as good value.

What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/S?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Fujian Green Pine would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the industry.

Taking a look back first, the company's revenue growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 30%. This means it has also seen a slide in revenue over the longer-term as revenue is down 41% 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.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 7.1% as estimated by the three analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 25%, which is noticeably more attractive.

With this in consideration, its clear as to why Fujian Green Pine's P/S is falling short industry peers. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift Fujian Green Pine's P/S close to the industry median. 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 expected, our analysis of Fujian Green Pine's analyst forecasts confirms that the company's underwhelming revenue outlook is a major contributor to its low P/S. Shareholders' pessimism on the revenue prospects for the company seems to be the main contributor to the depressed P/S. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for Fujian Green Pine with six simple checks on some of these key factors.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Fujian Green Pine, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.