5i5j Holding Group Co., Ltd. (SZSE:000560) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 26% after a shaky period beforehand. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 25% over that time.

Even after such a large jump in price, 5i5j Holding Group may still be sending buy signals at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.4x, considering almost half of all companies in the Real Estate industry in China have P/S ratios greater than 1.7x and even P/S higher than 4x aren't out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

What Does 5i5j Holding Group's Recent Performance Look Like?

While the industry has experienced revenue growth lately, 5i5j Holding Group's revenue has gone into reverse gear, which is not great. It seems that many are expecting the poor revenue performance to persist, which has repressed the P/S ratio. 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, 5i5j Holding Group would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue, the company posted a result that saw barely any deviation from a year ago. Regardless, revenue has managed to lift by a handy 28% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the earlier period of growth. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing revenue over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 16% as estimated by the only analyst watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 8.6% growth forecast for the broader industry.

In light of this, it's peculiar that 5i5j Holding Group's P/S sits below the majority of other companies. It looks like most investors are not convinced at all that the company can achieve future growth expectations.

The Key Takeaway

Despite 5i5j Holding Group's share price climbing recently, its P/S still lags most other companies. We'd say the price-to-sales ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

To us, it seems 5i5j Holding Group currently trades on a significantly depressed P/S given its forecasted revenue growth is higher than the rest of its industry. When we see strong growth forecasts like this, we can only assume potential risks are what might be placing significant pressure on the P/S ratio. At least price risks look to be very low, but investors seem to think future revenues could see a lot of volatility.

Having said that, be aware 5i5j Holding Group is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis, you should know about.

If you're unsure about the strength of 5i5j Holding Group'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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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.