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Kai Yuan Holdings Limited (HKG:1215) shares have had a horrible month, losing 28% after a relatively good period beforehand. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 19% in that time.

In spite of the heavy fall in price, it's still not a stretch to say that Kai Yuan Holdings' price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.5x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Hospitality industry in Hong Kong, where the median P/S ratio is around 0.7x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/S without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

View our latest analysis for Kai Yuan Holdings

How Has Kai Yuan Holdings Performed Recently?

The revenue growth achieved at Kai Yuan Holdings over the last year would be more than acceptable for most companies. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to only keep up with the broader industry, which has keeping the P/S in line with expectations. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The P/S Ratio?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Kai Yuan Holdings would need to produce growth that's similar to the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 10%. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 244% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Accordingly, shareholders would have definitely welcomed those medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing that recent medium-term revenue trajectory with the industry's one-year growth forecast of 14% shows it's noticeably more attractive.

With this information, we find it interesting that Kai Yuan Holdings is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. It may be that most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

The Bottom Line On Kai Yuan Holdings' P/S

With its share price dropping off a cliff, the P/S for Kai Yuan Holdings looks to be in line with the rest of the Hospitality industry. 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.

To our surprise, Kai Yuan Holdings revealed its three-year revenue trends aren't contributing to its P/S as much as we would have predicted, given they look better than current industry expectations. When we see strong revenue with faster-than-industry growth, we can only assume potential risks are what might be placing pressure on the P/S ratio. While recent revenue trends over the past medium-term suggest that the risk of a price decline is low, investors appear to see the likelihood of revenue fluctuations in the future.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 3 warning signs for Kai Yuan 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.