JNB Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:452160) 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. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 54%.
Since its price has surged higher, when almost half of the companies in Korea's Semiconductor industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1.7x, you may consider JNB as a stock not worth researching with its 4.8x P/S ratio. However, the P/S might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
Check out our latest analysis for JNB
Revenue has risen at a steady rate over the last year for JNB, which is generally not a bad outcome. One possibility is that the P/S ratio is high because investors think this good revenue growth will be enough to outperform the broader industry in the near future. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.
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 JNB's earnings, revenue and cash flow.JNB's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the industry.
Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow revenues by a handy 3.2% last year. Still, lamentably revenue has fallen 5.0% in aggregate from three years ago, which is disappointing. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.
Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 54% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a sobering picture.
With this in mind, we find it worrying that JNB's P/S exceeds that of its industry peers. Apparently many investors in the company are way more bullish than recent times would indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock at any price. There's a very good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the recent negative growth rates.
JNB's P/S has grown nicely over the last month thanks to a handy boost in the share price. 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 JNB currently trades on a much higher than expected P/S since its recent revenues have been in decline over the medium-term. Right now we aren't comfortable with the high P/S as this revenue performance is highly unlikely to support such positive sentiment for long. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it will place shareholders' investments at significant risk and potential investors in danger of paying an excessive premium.
There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 4 warning signs for JNB (2 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
If you're unsure about the strength of JNB'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.