Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Vivos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVOS) share price has dived 45% in the last thirty days, prolonging recent pain. The recent drop completes a disastrous twelve months for shareholders, who are sitting on a 70% loss during that time.

Since its price has dipped substantially, considering around half the companies operating in the United States' Healthcare industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 1.2x, you may consider Vivos Therapeutics as an solid investment opportunity with its 0.5x P/S ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

How Vivos Therapeutics Has Been Performing

Vivos Therapeutics could be doing better as its revenue has been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive revenue growth. Perhaps the P/S remains low as investors think the prospects of strong revenue growth aren't on the horizon. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

How Is Vivos Therapeutics' Revenue Growth Trending?

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 14% decrease to the company's top line. That put a dampener on the good run it was having over the longer-term as its three-year revenue growth is still a noteworthy 5.6% in total. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the revenue growth recently has been mostly respectable for the company.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 17% during the coming year according to the dual analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to only expand by 7.7%, which is noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's peculiar that Vivos Therapeutics' P/S sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders are doubtful of the forecasts and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

The Key Takeaway

Vivos Therapeutics' P/S has taken a dip along with its share price. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

Vivos Therapeutics' analyst forecasts revealed that its superior revenue outlook isn't contributing to its P/S anywhere near as much as we would have predicted. The reason for this depressed P/S could potentially be found in the risks the market is pricing in. It appears the market could be anticipating revenue instability, because these conditions should normally provide a boost to the share price.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 5 warning signs with Vivos Therapeutics (at least 3 which are concerning), and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.