Benign Growth For Entertainment Rewards Ltd (ASX:EAT) Underpins Stock's 50% Plummet

Entertainment Rewards Ltd (ASX:EAT) shares have had a horrible month, losing 50% after a relatively good period beforehand. For any long-term shareholders, the last month ends a year to forget by locking in a 50% share price decline.

Following the heavy fall in price, Entertainment Rewards may look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.2x, considering almost half of all companies in the Interactive Media and Services industry in Australia have P/S ratios greater than 3.2x and even P/S higher than 6x aren't out of the ordinary. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.

View our latest analysis for Entertainment Rewards

How Has Entertainment Rewards Performed Recently?

As an illustration, revenue has deteriorated at Entertainment Rewards 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.

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Entertainment Rewards' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far underperform the industry for P/S ratios like Entertainment Rewards' 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 3.7%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk revenue by 15% in aggregate. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing revenue over that time.

Weighing that medium-term revenue trajectory against the broader industry's one-year forecast for expansion of 2.3% shows it's an unpleasant look.

In light of this, it's understandable that Entertainment Rewards' P/S would sit below the majority of other companies. 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. There's potential for the P/S to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its top-line growth.

The Bottom Line On Entertainment Rewards' P/S

Shares in Entertainment Rewards have plummeted and its P/S has followed suit. 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.

It's no surprise that Entertainment Rewards maintains its low P/S off the back of its sliding revenue over the medium-term. 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.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 3 warning signs for Entertainment Rewards that you need to be mindful of.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So if growing profitability aligns with your idea of a great company, take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.