Suzhou Keda Technology Co.,Ltd (SHSE:603660) shares have had a horrible month, losing 26% after a relatively good period beforehand. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 11% share price drop.

Following the heavy fall in price, Suzhou Keda TechnologyLtd's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 2.2x might make it look like a buy right now compared to the Communications industry in China, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 4.2x and even P/S above 7x are quite common. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

How Suzhou Keda TechnologyLtd Has Been Performing

For instance, Suzhou Keda TechnologyLtd's receding revenue in recent times would have to be some food for thought. One possibility is that the P/S is low because investors think the company won't do enough to avoid underperforming the broader industry in the near future. Those who are bullish on Suzhou Keda TechnologyLtd will be hoping that this isn't the case so that they can pick up the stock at a lower valuation.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the industry for P/S ratios like Suzhou Keda TechnologyLtd's to be considered reasonable.

In reviewing the last year of financials, we were disheartened to see the company's revenues fell to the tune of 30%. This means it has also seen a slide in revenue over the longer-term as revenue is down 33% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 51% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a sobering picture.

With this information, we are not surprised that Suzhou Keda TechnologyLtd is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent revenue trends are already weighing down the shares.

The Key Takeaway

Suzhou Keda TechnologyLtd's recently weak share price has pulled its P/S back below other Communications companies. 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.

Our examination of Suzhou Keda TechnologyLtd confirms that the company's shrinking revenue over the past medium-term is a key factor in its low price-to-sales ratio, given the industry is projected to grow. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it's hard to see the share price moving strongly in either direction in the near future under these circumstances.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 3 warning signs for Suzhou Keda TechnologyLtd that we have uncovered.

If strong companies turning a profit tickle your fancy, then you'll want to check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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