Neuronetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STIM) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month, dropping 36% and undoing the prior period's positive performance. The recent drop has obliterated the annual return, with the share price now down 7.1% over that longer period.

Following the heavy fall in price, Neuronetics may look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.1x, considering almost half of all companies in the Medical Equipment industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 3.4x and even P/S higher than 7x 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 highly reduced P/S.

What Does Neuronetics' P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Recent revenue growth for Neuronetics has been in line with the industry. It might be that many expect the mediocre revenue performance to degrade, which has repressed the P/S ratio. Those who are bullish on Neuronetics will be hoping that this isn't the case.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Neuronetics would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 9.4% gain to the company's revenues. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 45% overall rise in revenue, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenues over that time.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 13% per year during the coming three years according to the four analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to only expand by 10% per annum, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we find it odd that Neuronetics is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. It looks like most investors are not convinced at all that the company can achieve future growth expectations.

What Does Neuronetics' P/S Mean For Investors?

Neuronetics' P/S looks about as weak as its stock price lately. 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.

Neuronetics' analyst forecasts revealed that its superior revenue outlook isn't contributing to its P/S anywhere near as much as we would have predicted. The reason for this depressed P/S could potentially be found in the risks the market is pricing in. It appears the market could be anticipating revenue instability, because these conditions should normally provide a boost to the share price.

Plus, you should also learn about these 5 warning signs we've spotted with Neuronetics.

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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