Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:UCTT) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.8x might make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the Semiconductor industry in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 4.1x and even P/S above 10x are quite common. However, the P/S might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

What Does Ultra Clean Holdings' Recent Performance Look Like?

With revenue growth that's inferior to most other companies of late, Ultra Clean Holdings has been relatively sluggish. It seems that many are expecting the uninspiring revenue performance to persist, which has repressed the growth of the P/S ratio. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping revenue doesn't get any worse and that you could pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

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

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far underperform the industry for P/S ratios like Ultra Clean Holdings' to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 6.4%. The solid recent performance means it was also able to grow revenue by 6.6% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been respectable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the four analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 11% per year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 25% per year, which is noticeably more attractive.

With this in consideration, its clear as to why Ultra Clean Holdings' P/S is falling short industry peers. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.

The Key Takeaway

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

We've established that Ultra Clean Holdings maintains its low P/S on the weakness of its forecast growth being lower than the wider industry, as expected. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for Ultra Clean Holdings that you need to take into consideration.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So if growing profitability aligns with your idea of a great company, take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.