Leadway Technology Investment Group Limited's (HKG:2086) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.7x may not look like an appealing investment opportunity when you consider close to half the companies in the Tech industry in Hong Kong have P/S ratios below 0.4x. However, the P/S might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

See our latest analysis for Leadway Technology Investment Group

What Does Leadway Technology Investment Group's Recent Performance Look Like?

As an illustration, revenue has deteriorated at Leadway Technology Investment Group over the last year, which is not ideal at all. Perhaps the market believes the company can do enough to outperform the rest of the industry in the near future, which is keeping the P/S ratio high. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Leadway Technology Investment Group, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Leadway Technology Investment Group would need to produce impressive growth in excess of the industry.

In reviewing the last year of financials, we were disheartened to see the company's revenues fell to the tune of 14%. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 8.4% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 17% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this in mind, we find it worrying that Leadway Technology Investment Group's P/S exceeds that of its industry peers. 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 heavily on the share price eventually.

The Bottom Line On Leadway Technology Investment Group's P/S

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.

Our examination of Leadway Technology Investment Group revealed its shrinking revenue over the medium-term isn't resulting in a P/S as low as we expected, given the industry is set to grow. Right now we aren't comfortable with the high P/S as this revenue performance is highly unlikely to support such positive sentiment for long. Should recent medium-term revenue trends persist, it would pose a significant risk to existing shareholders' investments and prospective investors will have a hard time accepting the current value of the stock.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 2 warning signs for Leadway Technology Investment Group (1 is potentially serious!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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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