AInnovation Technology Group Co., Ltd (HKG:2121) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 65% gain in the last month alone. Not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 27% in the last twelve months.
Following the firm bounce in price, when almost half of the companies in Hong Kong's Software industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1.6x, you may consider AInnovation Technology Group as a stock probably not worth researching with its 2.7x 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.
Check out our latest analysis for AInnovation Technology Group
AInnovation Technology Group could be doing better as its revenue has been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive revenue growth. It might be that many expect the dour revenue performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/S from collapsing. If not, then existing shareholders may be extremely nervous about the viability of the share price.
Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on AInnovation Technology Group will help you uncover what's on the horizon.In order to justify its P/S ratio, AInnovation Technology Group would need to produce impressive growth in excess of the industry.
In reviewing the last year of financials, we were disheartened to see the company's revenues fell to the tune of 24%. Still, the latest three year period has seen an excellent 95% overall rise in revenue, in spite of its unsatisfying short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a very good job of growing revenue over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.
Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to slump, contracting by 6.4% during the coming year according to the two analysts following the company. That's not great when the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 24%.
With this in mind, we find it intriguing that AInnovation Technology Group's P/S is closely matching its industry peers. Apparently many investors in the company reject the analyst cohort's pessimism and aren't willing to let go of their stock at any price. There's a very good chance these shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the negative growth outlook.
AInnovation Technology Group shares have taken a big step in a northerly direction, but its P/S is elevated as a result. 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.
We've established that AInnovation Technology Group currently trades on a much higher than expected P/S for a company whose revenues are forecast to decline. In cases like this where we see revenue decline on the horizon, we suspect the share price is at risk of following suit, bringing back the high P/S into the realms of suitability. Unless these conditions improve markedly, it'll be a challenging time for shareholders.
There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 3 warning signs for AInnovation Technology Group (1 is concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
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.