Lai Group Holding Company Limited (HKG:8455) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 32% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Longer-term shareholders would be thankful for the recovery in the share price since it's now virtually flat for the year after the recent bounce.
Even after such a large jump in price, when close to half the companies operating in Hong Kong's Consumer Services industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 1.1x, you may still consider Lai Group Holding as an enticing stock to check out with its 0.2x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.
View our latest analysis for Lai Group Holding
How Has Lai Group Holding Performed Recently?
As an illustration, revenue has deteriorated at Lai Group Holding over the last year, which is not ideal at all. Perhaps the market believes the recent revenue performance isn't good enough to keep up the industry, causing the P/S ratio to suffer. However, if this doesn't eventuate then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.
We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Lai Group Holding's earnings, revenue and cash flow.Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Lai Group Holding?
There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the industry for P/S ratios like Lai Group Holding's 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 4.5%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk revenue by 34% in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.
Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 19% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a sobering picture.
In light of this, it's understandable that Lai Group Holding's P/S would sit below the majority of other companies. However, we think shrinking revenues are unlikely to lead to a stable P/S over the longer term, which could set up shareholders for future disappointment. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent revenue trends are already weighing down the shares.
What We Can Learn From Lai Group Holding's P/S?
The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift Lai Group Holding's P/S close to the industry median. While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.
It's no surprise that Lai Group Holding maintains its low P/S off the back of its sliding revenue over the medium-term. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises either. Given the current circumstances, it seems unlikely that the share price will experience any significant movement in either direction in the near future if recent medium-term revenue trends persist.
Having said that, be aware Lai Group Holding is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, you should know about.
It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So if growing profitability aligns with your idea of a great company, take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).
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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.