ImmuCell Corporation (NASDAQ:ICCC) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 28% gain and recovering from prior weakness. While recent buyers may be laughing, long-term holders might not be as pleased since the recent gain only brings the stock back to where it started a year ago.

Even after such a large jump in price, ImmuCell's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.7x might still make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the wider Biotechs industry in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 10.5x and even P/S above 59x 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.

How Has ImmuCell Performed Recently?

ImmuCell certainly has been doing a great job lately as it's been growing its revenue at a really rapid pace. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to dwindle, which has kept the P/S suppressed. 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 out of favour.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as depressed as ImmuCell's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry decidedly.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 46%. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow revenue by 36% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have definitely welcomed those medium-term rates of revenue growth.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 104% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this in consideration, it's easy to understand why ImmuCell's P/S falls short of the mark set by its industry peers. It seems most investors are expecting to see the recent limited growth rates continue into the future and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

What Does ImmuCell's P/S Mean For Investors?

ImmuCell's recent share price jump still sees fails to bring its P/S alongside the industry median. We'd say the price-to-sales ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of ImmuCell revealed its three-year revenue trends are contributing to its low P/S, given they look worse than current industry expectations. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it's hard to see the share price experience a reversal of fortunes anytime soon.

Plus, you should also learn about these 3 warning signs we've spotted with ImmuCell (including 1 which can't be ignored).

Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.