Wix.com Ltd.'s (NASDAQ:WIX) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 5.6x may look like a poor investment opportunity when you consider close to half the companies in the IT industry in the United States have P/S ratios below 1.9x. 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.

What Does Wix.com's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Wix.com certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing revenue more than most other companies. The P/S is probably high because investors think this strong revenue performance will continue. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

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

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the industry for P/S ratios like Wix.com's to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 13% gain to the company's revenues. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 49% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Accordingly, shareholders would have definitely welcomed those medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 13% per year over the next three years. That's shaping up to be similar to the 11% each year growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this in consideration, we find it intriguing that Wix.com's P/S is higher than its industry peers. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly average growth expectations and are willing to pay up for exposure to the stock. Although, additional gains will be difficult to achieve as this level of revenue growth is likely to weigh down the share price eventually.

The Final Word

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.

Seeing as its revenues are forecast to grow in line with the wider industry, it would appear that Wix.com currently trades on a higher than expected P/S. When we see revenue growth that just matches the industry, we don't expect elevates P/S figures to remain inflated for the long-term. This places shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Wix.com that you should be aware of.

If strong companies turning a profit tickle your fancy, then you'll want to check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.

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