Those holding Jadason Enterprises Ltd (SGX:J03) shares would be relieved that the share price has rebounded 30% in the last thirty days, but it needs to keep going to repair the recent damage it has caused to investor portfolios. The last month tops off a massive increase of 160% in the last year.

Even after such a large jump in price, you could still be forgiven for feeling indifferent about Jadason Enterprises' P/S ratio of 0.4x, since the median price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio for the Electronic industry in Singapore is also close to 0.5x. However, investors might be overlooking a clear opportunity or potential setback if there is no rational basis for the P/S.

ps-multiple-vs-industry

What Does Jadason Enterprises' Recent Performance Look Like?

For instance, Jadason Enterprises' receding revenue in recent times would have to be some food for thought. Perhaps investors believe the recent revenue performance is enough to keep in line with the industry, which is keeping the P/S from dropping off. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

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

There's an inherent assumption that a company should be matching the industry for P/S ratios like Jadason Enterprises' to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 6.8% decrease to the company's top line. This means it has also seen a slide in revenue over the longer-term as revenue is down 36% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 20% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this information, we find it concerning that Jadason Enterprises is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. It seems most investors are ignoring the recent poor growth rate and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as a continuation of recent revenue trends is likely to weigh on the share price eventually.

What We Can Learn From Jadason Enterprises' P/S?

Its shares have lifted substantially and now Jadason Enterprises' P/S is back within range of the industry median. 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.

Our look at Jadason Enterprises revealed its shrinking revenues over the medium-term haven't impacted the P/S as much as we anticipated, given the industry is set to grow. Even though it matches the industry, we're uncomfortable with the current P/S ratio, as this dismal revenue performance is unlikely to support a more positive sentiment for long. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it will place shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium.