Beonic Limited (ASX:BEO) shareholders have had their patience rewarded with a 46% share price jump in the last month. Looking further back, the 17% rise over the last twelve months isn't too bad notwithstanding the strength over the last 30 days.

Although its price has surged higher, Beonic's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.9x might still make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the wider Software industry in Australia, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 3.1x and even P/S above 8x 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Beonic

What Does Beonic's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

We'd have to say that with no tangible growth over the last year, Beonic's revenue has been unimpressive. One possibility is that the P/S is low because investors think this benign revenue growth rate will likely underperform the broader industry in the near future. Those who are bullish on Beonic will be hoping that this isn't the case, so that they can pick up the stock at a lower valuation.

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Beonic's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Beonic would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered virtually the same number to the company's top line as the year before. However, a few strong years before that means that it was still able to grow revenue by an impressive 50% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders will be pleased, but also have some questions to ponder about the last 12 months.

Comparing the recent medium-term revenue trends against the industry's one-year growth forecast of 22% shows it's noticeably less attractive.

With this in consideration, it's easy to understand why Beonic'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 We Can Learn From Beonic's P/S?

Beonic's recent share price jump still sees fails to bring its P/S alongside the industry median. 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 examination of Beonic confirms that the company's revenue trends over the past three-year years are a key factor in its low price-to-sales ratio, as we suspected, given they fall short of current industry expectations. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it's hard to see the share price experience a reversal of fortunes anytime soon.

Having said that, be aware Beonic is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 2 of those are concerning.

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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