Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Fluence Corporation Limited (ASX:FLC) share price has dived 25% in the last thirty days, prolonging recent pain. The recent drop completes a disastrous twelve months for shareholders, who are sitting on a 74% loss during that time.

After such a large drop in price, it would be understandable if you think Fluence is a stock with good investment prospects with a price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") of 0.6x, considering almost half the companies in Australia's Water Utilities industry have P/S ratios above 2.2x. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

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See our latest analysis for Fluence

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

Fluence could be doing better as its revenue has been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive revenue growth. It seems that many are expecting the poor revenue performance to persist, which has repressed the P/S ratio. So while you could say the stock is cheap, investors will be looking for improvement before they see it as good value.

Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on Fluence will help you uncover what's on the horizon.

How Is Fluence's Revenue Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Fluence would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 26% decrease to the company's top line. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 54% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 70% as estimated by the one analyst watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to only expand by 5.2%, which is noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's peculiar that Fluence's P/S sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders are doubtful of the forecasts and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

The Final Word

Fluence's recently weak share price has pulled its P/S back below other Water Utilities companies. 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.

A look at Fluence's revenues reveals that, despite glowing future growth forecasts, its P/S is much lower than we'd expect. The reason for this depressed P/S could potentially be found in the risks the market is pricing in. While the possibility of the share price plunging seems unlikely due to the high growth forecasted for the company, the market does appear to have some hesitation.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Fluence (at least 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable), and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

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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