Despite an already strong run, Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) shares have been powering on, with a gain of 38% in the last thirty days. The annual gain comes to 107% following the latest surge, making investors sit up and take notice.

After such a large jump in price, when almost half of the companies in the United States' Communications industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1.1x, you may consider Lumentum Holdings as a stock not worth researching with its 4.4x P/S ratio. 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 Lumentum Holdings' Recent Performance Look Like?

Lumentum Holdings hasn't been tracking well recently as its declining revenue compares poorly to other companies, which have seen some growth in their revenues on average. One possibility is that the P/S ratio is high because investors think this poor revenue performance will turn the corner. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The High P/S Ratio?

Lumentum Holdings' P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 13% decrease to the company's top line. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 21% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 24% as estimated by the analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to only expand by 11%, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this in mind, it's not hard to understand why Lumentum Holdings' P/S is high relative to its industry peers. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

Lumentum Holdings' P/S has grown nicely over the last month thanks to a handy boost in the share price. 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.

Our look into Lumentum Holdings shows that its P/S ratio remains high on the merit of its strong future revenues. It appears that shareholders are confident in the company's future revenues, which is propping up the P/S. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

It is also worth noting that we have found 3 warning signs for Lumentum Holdings (1 can't be ignored!) that you need to take into consideration.

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.