The Unitas Holdings Limited (HKG:8020) share price has softened a substantial 29% over the previous 30 days, handing back much of the gains the stock has made lately. For any long-term shareholders, the last month ends a year to forget by locking in a 64% share price decline.

Even after such a large drop in price, there still wouldn't be many who think Unitas Holdings' price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.5x is worth a mention when the median P/S in Hong Kong's Logistics industry is similar at about 0.2x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/S ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

What Does Unitas Holdings' Recent Performance Look Like?

With revenue growth that's exceedingly strong of late, Unitas Holdings has been doing very well. It might be that many expect the strong revenue performance to wane, which has kept the share price, and thus the P/S ratio, from rising. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

Is There Some Revenue Growth Forecasted For Unitas Holdings?

Unitas Holdings' P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver moderate growth, and importantly, perform in line with the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 49%. Spectacularly, three year revenue growth has ballooned by several orders of magnitude, thanks in part to the last 12 months of revenue growth. Accordingly, shareholders would have been over the moon with those medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing that recent medium-term revenue trajectory with the industry's one-year growth forecast of 9.7% shows it's noticeably more attractive.

With this information, we find it interesting that Unitas Holdings is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance is at its limits and have been accepting lower selling prices.

The Key Takeaway

With its share price dropping off a cliff, the P/S for Unitas Holdings looks to be in line with the rest of the Logistics industry. 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 didn't quite envision Unitas Holdings' P/S sitting in line with the wider industry, considering the revenue growth over the last three-year is higher than the current industry outlook. It'd be fair to assume that potential risks the company faces could be the contributing factor to the lower than expected P/S. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued if recent medium-term revenue trends continue, but investors seem to think future revenue could see some volatility.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 2 warning signs for Unitas Holdings (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that we have uncovered.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Unitas Holdings, 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.