Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas S.A.'s (BVMF:LAND3) Shares Climb 27% But Its Business Is Yet to Catch Up

Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas S.A. (BVMF:LAND3) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 27% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 18% over that time.

Since its price has surged higher, you could be forgiven for thinking Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas is a stock to steer clear of with a price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") of 18.9x, considering almost half the companies in Brazil's Real Estate industry have P/S ratios below 1.4x. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so lofty.

View our latest analysis for Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas

How Has Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas Performed Recently?

As an illustration, revenue has deteriorated at Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas over the last year, which is not ideal at all. Perhaps the market believes the company can do enough to outperform the rest of the industry in the near future, which is keeping the P/S ratio high. If not, then existing shareholders may be quite nervous about the viability of the share price.

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 Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the industry for P/S ratios like Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas' 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 26%. 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.

Weighing that medium-term revenue trajectory against the broader industry's one-year forecast for expansion of 8.2% shows it's an unpleasant look.

With this in mind, we find it worrying that Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas' P/S exceeds that of its industry peers. It seems most investors are ignoring the recent poor growth rate and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as a continuation of recent revenue trends is likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.

The Key Takeaway

Shares in Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas have seen a strong upwards swing lately, which has really helped boost its P/S figure. 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.

Our examination of Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas revealed its shrinking revenue over the medium-term isn't resulting in a P/S as low as we expected, given the industry is set to grow. With a revenue decline on investors' minds, the likelihood of a souring sentiment is quite high which could send the P/S back in line with what we'd expect. Should recent medium-term revenue trends persist, it would pose a significant risk to existing shareholders' investments and prospective investors will have a hard time accepting the current value of the stock.

Having said that, be aware Terra Santa Propriedades Agrícolas is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 2 of those make us uncomfortable.

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.