Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc's (NASDAQ:JAZZ) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 2.1x might make it look like a buy right now compared to the Pharmaceuticals industry in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 3.2x and even P/S above 20x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

View our latest analysis for Jazz Pharmaceuticals

How Jazz Pharmaceuticals Has Been Performing

Recent times haven't been great for Jazz Pharmaceuticals as its revenue has been rising slower than most other companies. Perhaps the market is expecting the current trend of poor revenue growth to continue, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping revenue doesn't get any worse and that you could pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

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

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Jazz Pharmaceuticals would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 5.9% gain to the company's revenues. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 66% overall rise in revenue, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 5.5% each year during the coming three years according to the analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 53% per annum, which is noticeably more attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that Jazz Pharmaceuticals' P/S sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.

What Does Jazz Pharmaceuticals' P/S Mean For Investors?

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

As we suspected, our examination of Jazz Pharmaceuticals' analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior revenue outlook is contributing to its low P/S. Shareholders' pessimism on the revenue prospects for the company seems to be the main contributor to the depressed P/S. The company will need a change of fortune to justify the P/S rising higher in the future.

You always need to take note of risks, for example - Jazz Pharmaceuticals has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

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.