To the annoyance of some shareholders, Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) shares are down a considerable 29% in the last month, which continues a horrid run for the company. The recent drop completes a disastrous twelve months for shareholders, who are sitting on a 55% loss during that time.

Since its price has dipped substantially, Nektar Therapeutics may look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.1x, considering almost half of all companies in the Pharmaceuticals industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 3.3x and even P/S higher than 12x aren't out of the ordinary. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.

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Check out our latest analysis for Nektar Therapeutics

What Does Nektar Therapeutics' P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Recent times haven't been great for Nektar Therapeutics as its revenue has been rising slower than most other companies. The P/S ratio is probably low because investors think this lacklustre revenue performance isn't going to get any better. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping revenue doesn't get any worse and that you could pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

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Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Nektar Therapeutics?

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 9.2% gain to the company's revenues. Still, lamentably revenue has fallen 3.4% in aggregate from three years ago, which is disappointing. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the nine analysts covering the company suggest revenue growth is heading into negative territory, declining 16% per annum over the next three years. Meanwhile, the broader industry is forecast to expand by 20% each year, which paints a poor picture.

With this information, we are not surprised that Nektar Therapeutics is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. There's potential for the P/S to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its top-line growth.

The Key Takeaway

Shares in Nektar Therapeutics have plummeted and its P/S has followed suit. 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.

It's clear to see that Nektar Therapeutics maintains its low P/S on the weakness of its forecast for sliding revenue, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. Unless there's material change, it's hard to envision a situation where the stock price will rise drastically.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Nektar Therapeutics (1 shouldn't be ignored) 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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