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Sinofortune Financial Holdings Limited (HKG:8123) shareholders have had their patience rewarded with a 70% share price jump in the last month. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 70%.

After such a large jump in price, when almost half of the companies in Hong Kong's Specialty Retail industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 0.3x, you may consider Sinofortune Financial Holdings as a stock probably not worth researching with its 1.5x 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 as high as it is.

See our latest analysis for Sinofortune Financial Holdings

How Has Sinofortune Financial Holdings Performed Recently?

For example, consider that Sinofortune Financial Holdings' financial performance has been poor lately as its revenue has been in decline. Perhaps the market believes the company can do enough to outperform the rest of the industry in the near future, which is keeping the P/S ratio high. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

How Is Sinofortune Financial Holdings' Revenue Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should outperform the industry for P/S ratios like Sinofortune Financial Holdings' to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, the company's revenue growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 58%. Still, the latest three year period has seen an excellent 281% overall rise in revenue, in spite of its unsatisfying short-term performance. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the revenue growth recently has been more than adequate for the company.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 11% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this in consideration, it's not hard to understand why Sinofortune Financial Holdings' P/S is high relative to its industry peers. Presumably shareholders aren't keen to offload something they believe will continue to outmanoeuvre the wider industry.

The Final Word

Sinofortune Financial Holdings' P/S is on the rise since its shares have risen strongly. It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

As we suspected, our examination of Sinofortune Financial Holdings revealed its three-year revenue trends are contributing to its high P/S, given they look better than current industry expectations. At this stage investors feel the potential continued revenue growth in the future is great enough to warrant an inflated P/S. Barring any significant changes to the company's ability to make money, the share price should continue to be propped up.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Sinofortune Financial Holdings 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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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.