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Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 28% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 40% over that time.

Although its price has surged higher, Cohu may still be sending buy signals at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 2.1x, considering almost half of all companies in the Semiconductor industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 3.9x and even P/S higher than 10x aren't out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

Check out our latest analysis for Cohu

What Does Cohu's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Cohu hasn't been tracking well recently as its declining revenue compares poorly to other companies, which have seen some growth in their revenues on average. Perhaps the P/S remains low as investors think the prospects of strong revenue growth aren't on the horizon. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

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

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as low as Cohu's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry.

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 31%. This means it has also seen a slide in revenue over the longer-term as revenue is down 55% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 16% as estimated by the five analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 35%, which is noticeably more attractive.

With this information, we can see why Cohu is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

What Does Cohu's P/S Mean For Investors?

Cohu's stock price has surged recently, but its but its P/S still remains modest. 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.

We've established that Cohu maintains its low P/S on the weakness of its forecast growth being lower than the wider industry, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. You can assess many of the main risks through our free balance sheet analysis for Cohu with six simple checks.

If you're unsure about the strength of Cohu's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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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.