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TOT BIOPHARM International Company Limited (HKG:1875) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 29% after a shaky period beforehand. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 26% over that time.

Although its price has surged higher, TOT BIOPHARM International's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.8x might still make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the wider Biotechs industry in Hong Kong, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 12.4x and even P/S above 28x are quite common. However, the P/S might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

See our latest analysis for TOT BIOPHARM International

How Has TOT BIOPHARM International Performed Recently?

TOT BIOPHARM International certainly has been doing a great job lately as it's been growing its revenue at a really rapid pace. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to dwindle, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/S?

TOT BIOPHARM International's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling revenue, and importantly, perform much worse than the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 77% gain to the company's top line. This great performance means it was also able to deliver immense revenue growth over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have been over the moon with those medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing that recent medium-term revenue trajectory with the industry's one-year growth forecast of 28% shows it's noticeably more attractive.

With this in mind, we find it intriguing that TOT BIOPHARM International's P/S isn't as high compared to that of its industry peers. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance has exceeded its limits and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

What Does TOT BIOPHARM International's P/S Mean For Investors?

Even after such a strong price move, TOT BIOPHARM International's P/S still trails the rest of the industry. 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.

Our examination of TOT BIOPHARM International revealed its three-year revenue trends aren't boosting its P/S anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given they look better than current industry expectations. Potential investors that are sceptical over continued revenue performance may be preventing the P/S ratio from matching previous strong performance. While recent revenue trends over the past medium-term suggest that the risk of a price decline is low, investors appear to perceive a likelihood of revenue fluctuations in the future.

A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for TOT BIOPHARM International with six simple checks on some of these key factors.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.