Image Resources NL's (ASX:IMA) Shares Bounce 52% But Its Business Still Trails The Industry

The Image Resources NL (ASX:IMA) share price has done very well over the last month, posting an excellent gain of 52%. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 15% over that time.

Although its price has surged higher, Image Resources may still look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.9x, considering almost half of all companies in the Metals and Mining industry in Australia have P/S ratios greater than 89x and even P/S higher than 520x aren't out of the ordinary. However, the P/S might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

View our latest analysis for Image Resources

How Image Resources Has Been Performing

As an illustration, revenue has deteriorated at Image Resources over the last year, which is not ideal at all. Perhaps the market believes the recent revenue performance isn't good enough to keep up the industry, causing the P/S ratio to suffer. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Image Resources will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

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

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

Taking a look back first, the company's revenue growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 31%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk revenue by 32% in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 143% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this information, we are not surprised that Image Resources is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. However, we think shrinking revenues are unlikely to lead to a stable P/S over the longer term, which could set up shareholders for future disappointment. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent revenue trends are already weighing down the shares.

What We Can Learn From Image Resources' P/S?

Even after such a strong price move, Image Resources' P/S still trails the rest of the industry. 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.

It's no surprise that Image Resources maintains its low P/S off the back of its sliding revenue over the medium-term. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises either. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Plus, you should also learn about these 2 warning signs we've spotted with Image Resources (including 1 which is a bit concerning).

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Image Resources, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.