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Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings Limited (HKG:909) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 28% after a shaky period beforehand. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 44%.

Following the firm bounce in price, given close to half the companies operating in Hong Kong's Software industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 2x, you may consider Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings as a stock to potentially avoid with its 3.4x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the elevated P/S.

View our latest analysis for Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings

How Has Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings Performed Recently?

Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings could be doing better as its revenue has been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive revenue growth. Perhaps the market is expecting the poor revenue to reverse, justifying it's current high P/S.. However, if this isn't the case, investors might get caught out paying too much for the stock.

How Is Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings' Revenue Growth Trending?

Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings' P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 5.9% decrease to the company's top line. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 20% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the eight analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 10% per year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 19% per annum, which is noticeably more attractive.

With this in consideration, we believe it doesn't make sense that Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings' P/S is outpacing its industry peers. It seems most investors are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects, but the analyst cohort is not so confident this will happen. There's a good chance these shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the growth outlook.

The Key Takeaway

Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings shares have taken a big step in a northerly direction, but its P/S is elevated as a result. We'd say the price-to-sales ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

Despite analysts forecasting some poorer-than-industry revenue growth figures for Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings, this doesn't appear to be impacting the P/S in the slightest. When we see a weak revenue outlook, we suspect the share price faces a much greater risk of declining, bringing back down the P/S figures. At these price levels, investors should remain cautious, particularly if things don't improve.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings you should know about.

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.