East 33 Limited (ASX:E33) Stock's 28% Dive Might Signal An Opportunity But It Requires Some Scrutiny

The East 33 Limited (ASX:E33) share price has softened a substantial 28% over the previous 30 days, handing back much of the gains the stock has made lately. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 38% share price drop.

Although its price has dipped substantially, it's still not a stretch to say that East 33's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.5x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Food industry in Australia, where the median P/S ratio is around 1x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/S ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

Check out our latest analysis for East 33

What Does East 33's Recent Performance Look Like?

The revenue growth achieved at East 33 over the last year would be more than acceptable for most companies. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to only keep up with the broader industry, which has keeping the P/S in line with expectations. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders probably aren't too pessimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for East 33, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Is There Some Revenue Growth Forecasted For East 33?

The only time you'd be comfortable seeing a P/S like East 33's is when the company's growth is tracking the industry closely.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 8.8%. While this performance is only fair, the company was still able to deliver immense revenue growth over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a tremendous job of growing revenue over that time.

Comparing that to the industry, which is only predicted to deliver 3.4% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is stronger based on recent medium-term annualised revenue results.

With this information, we find it interesting that East 33 is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance is at its limits and have been accepting lower selling prices.

The Key Takeaway

Following East 33's share price tumble, its P/S is just clinging on to the industry median P/S. 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.

We've established that East 33 currently trades on a lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. It'd be fair to assume that potential risks the company faces could be the contributing factor to the lower than expected P/S. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued if recent medium-term revenue trends continue, but investors seem to think future revenue could see some volatility.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 4 warning signs for East 33 you should be aware of.

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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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.