When close to half the companies in the Pharmaceuticals industry in the United States have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 2.7x, you may consider Zevra Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZVRA) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 17.7x P/S ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so lofty.

View our latest analysis for Zevra Therapeutics

How Zevra Therapeutics Has Been Performing

Zevra Therapeutics certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing revenue more than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the strong revenue performance to persist, which has raised the P/S. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Zevra Therapeutics.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The High P/S Ratio?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as steep as Zevra Therapeutics' is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the industry decidedly.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 48%. Despite this strong recent growth, it's still struggling to catch up as its three-year revenue frustratingly shrank by 14% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 115% per year during the coming three years according to the eight analysts following the company. With the industry only predicted to deliver 16% per annum, the company is positioned for a stronger revenue result.

With this information, we can see why Zevra Therapeutics is trading at such a high P/S compared to the industry. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Bottom Line On Zevra Therapeutics' P/S

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

As we suspected, our examination of Zevra Therapeutics' analyst forecasts revealed that its superior revenue outlook is contributing to its high P/S. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in revenues is quite remote, justifying the elevated P/S ratio. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 1 warning sign for Zevra Therapeutics 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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