China CBM Group Company Limited (HKG:8270) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 33% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 28% over that time.

Even after such a large jump in price, it's still not a stretch to say that China CBM Group's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.7x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Oil and Gas industry in Hong Kong, where the median P/S ratio is around 0.6x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/S ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

View our latest analysis for China CBM Group

How China CBM Group Has Been Performing

As an illustration, revenue has deteriorated at China CBM Group over the last year, which is not ideal at all. It might be that many expect the company to put the disappointing revenue performance behind them over the coming period, which has kept the P/S from falling. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

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 China CBM Group's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The P/S Ratio?

China CBM Group's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver moderate growth, and importantly, perform in line with the industry.

In reviewing the last year of financials, we were disheartened to see the company's revenues fell to the tune of 4.2%. That put a dampener on the good run it was having over the longer-term as its three-year revenue growth is still a noteworthy 22% in total. Accordingly, while they would have preferred to keep the run going, shareholders would be roughly satisfied with the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing that to the industry, which is only predicted to deliver 1.8% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is stronger based on recent medium-term annualised revenue results.

In light of this, it's curious that China CBM Group's P/S sits in line with the majority of other companies. It may be that most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

The Final Word

China CBM Group appears to be back in favour with a solid price jump bringing its P/S back in line with other companies in the industry Using the price-to-sales ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

We've established that China CBM Group currently trades on a lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. There could be some unobserved threats to revenue preventing the P/S ratio from matching this positive performance. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued if recent medium-term revenue trends continue, but investors seem to think future revenue could see some volatility.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for China CBM Group (1 is a bit unpleasant) you should be aware of.

If you're unsure about the strength of China CBM Group's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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