Padtec Holding S.A. (BVMF:PDTC3) Stock Catapults 27% Though Its Price And Business Still Lag The Industry

Padtec Holding S.A. (BVMF:PDTC3) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 27% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 35% in the last twelve months.

Even after such a large jump in price, Padtec Holding's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.3x might still make it look like a buy right now compared to the Communications industry in Brazil, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 1.9x and even P/S above 5x are quite common. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

We've discovered 4 warning signs about Padtec Holding. View them for free.

View our latest analysis for Padtec Holding

How Has Padtec Holding Performed Recently?

For example, consider that Padtec Holding's financial performance has been poor lately as its revenue has been in decline. 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.

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

How Is Padtec Holding's Revenue Growth Trending?

Padtec Holding's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the industry.

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 10%. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 11% overall. 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 13% shows it's an unpleasant look.

In light of this, it's understandable that Padtec Holding's 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.

What We Can Learn From Padtec Holding's P/S?

The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift Padtec Holding's P/S close to the industry median. 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 Padtec Holding 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 4 warning signs for Padtec Holding (2 shouldn't be ignored!) that you need to be mindful 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.