It's not a stretch to say that Maoye International Holdings Limited's (HKG:848) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.1x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" for companies in the Multiline Retail industry in Hong Kong, where the median P/S ratio is around 0.3x. 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.

See our latest analysis for Maoye International Holdings

How Maoye International Holdings Has Been Performing

Revenue has risen firmly for Maoye International Holdings recently, which is pleasing to see. It might be that many expect the respectable revenue performance to wane, which has kept the P/S from rising. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Maoye International Holdings will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

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 Maoye International Holdings' to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 8.4% gain to the company's revenues. Still, lamentably revenue has fallen 27% in aggregate from three years ago, which is disappointing. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 9.3% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a sobering picture.

With this in mind, we find it worrying that Maoye International Holdings' 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. There's a good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the recent negative growth rates.

The Final Word

While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

Our look at Maoye International Holdings 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. When we see revenue heading backwards in the context of growing industry forecasts, it'd make sense to expect a possible share price decline on the horizon, sending the moderate P/S lower. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve markedly, investors will have a hard time accepting the share price as fair value.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Maoye International Holdings (2 make us uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of.

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.

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