Qingdao Victall Railway Co., Ltd.'s (SHSE:605001) Share Price Boosted 37% But Its Business Prospects Need A Lift Too

Those holding Qingdao Victall Railway Co., Ltd. (SHSE:605001) shares would be relieved that the share price has rebounded 37% in the last thirty days, but it needs to keep going to repair the recent damage it has caused to investor portfolios. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 32% over that time.

Even after such a large jump in price, Qingdao Victall Railway may still be sending buy signals at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 2x, considering almost half of all companies in the Machinery industry in China have P/S ratios greater than 2.8x and even P/S higher than 5x 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 limited.

See our latest analysis for Qingdao Victall Railway

How Has Qingdao Victall Railway Performed Recently?

Qingdao Victall Railway certainly has been doing a great job lately as it's been growing its revenue at a really rapid pace. It might be that many expect the strong revenue performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/S ratio. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction 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 Qingdao Victall Railway's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Is Qingdao Victall Railway's Revenue Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as low as Qingdao Victall Railway's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew revenue by an impressive 68% last year. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen the company endure a nasty 21% drop in revenue in aggregate. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing revenues over that time.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 27% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a sobering picture.

With this information, we are not surprised that Qingdao Victall Railway is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent revenue trends are already weighing down the shares.

The Final Word

Qingdao Victall Railway's stock price has surged recently, but its but its P/S still remains modest. 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.

As we suspected, our examination of Qingdao Victall Railway revealed its shrinking revenue over the medium-term is contributing to its low P/S, given the industry is set to grow. 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.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 1 warning sign for Qingdao Victall Railway that you should be aware 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.