With a price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 7.7x Zylox-Tonbridge Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (HKG:2190) may be sending bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all Medical Equipment companies in Hong Kong have P/S ratios under 5.8x and even P/S lower than 1.7x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the elevated P/S.
See our latest analysis for Zylox-Tonbridge Medical Technology
Zylox-Tonbridge Medical Technology certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing revenue more than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the strong revenue performance to persist, which has raised the P/S. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.
If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Zylox-Tonbridge Medical Technology.The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as high as Zylox-Tonbridge Medical Technology's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the industry.
Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew revenue by an impressive 35% last year. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 247% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenue over that time.
Shifting to the future, estimates from the four analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 29% each year over the next three years. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 23% each year growth forecast for the broader industry.
With this in mind, it's not hard to understand why Zylox-Tonbridge Medical Technology's P/S is high relative to its industry peers. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.
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.
Our look into Zylox-Tonbridge Medical Technology shows that its P/S ratio remains high on the merit of its strong future revenues. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in revenues is quite remote, justifying the elevated P/S ratio. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.
A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for Zylox-Tonbridge Medical Technology with six simple checks on some of these key factors.
If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Zylox-Tonbridge Medical Technology, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.
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