When close to half the companies in the Healthcare Services industry in the United States have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 2.2x, you may consider Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 4.6x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/S.

Check out our latest analysis for Certara

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

With revenue growth that's inferior to most other companies of late, Certara has been relatively sluggish. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to undergo a reversal of fortunes, which has elevated the P/S ratio. If not, then existing shareholders may be very nervous about the viability of the share price.

Keen to find out how analysts think Certara's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

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

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the industry for P/S ratios like Certara's to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 5.6% gain to the company's revenues. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 35% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenues over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the ten analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 9.1% per annum over the next three years. With the industry predicted to deliver 11% growth per year, the company is positioned for a comparable revenue result.

With this in consideration, we find it intriguing that Certara's P/S is higher than its industry peers. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly average growth expectations and are willing to pay up for exposure to the stock. Although, additional gains will be difficult to achieve as this level of revenue growth is likely to weigh down the share price eventually.

The Bottom Line On Certara's P/S

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.

Analysts are forecasting Certara's revenues to only grow on par with the rest of the industry, which has lead to the high P/S ratio being unexpected. The fact that the revenue figures aren't setting the world alight has us doubtful that the company's elevated P/S can be sustainable for the long term. Unless the company can jump ahead of the rest of the industry in the short-term, it'll be a challenge to maintain the share price at current levels.

A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for Certara with six simple checks on some of these key factors.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.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.