The VerifyMe, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRME) share price has done very well over the last month, posting an excellent gain of 25%. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 20% over that time.

Although its price has surged higher, VerifyMe may still be sending buy signals at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.6x, considering almost half of all companies in the Electronic industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 1.8x and even P/S higher than 5x aren't out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

How Has VerifyMe Performed Recently?

VerifyMe certainly has been doing a good job lately as its revenue growth has been positive while most other companies have been seeing their revenue go backwards. It might be that many expect the strong revenue performance to degrade substantially, possibly more than the industry, which has repressed the P/S. Those who are bullish on VerifyMe will be hoping that this isn't the case and the company continues to beat out the industry.

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

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

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew revenue by an impressive 29% last year. Spectacularly, three year revenue growth has ballooned by several orders of magnitude, thanks in part to the last 12 months of revenue growth. 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 9.9% each year during the coming three years according to the dual analysts following the company. That's shaping up to be similar to the 9.2% each year growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this information, we find it odd that VerifyMe is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Apparently some shareholders are doubtful of the forecasts and have been accepting lower selling prices.

What We Can Learn From VerifyMe's P/S?

The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift VerifyMe's P/S close to the industry median. 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.

We've seen that VerifyMe currently trades on a lower than expected P/S since its forecast growth is in line with the wider industry. The low P/S could be an indication that the revenue growth estimates are being questioned by the market. Perhaps investors are concerned that the company could underperform against the forecasts over the near term.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for VerifyMe you should know about.

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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