Subdued Growth No Barrier To Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibre Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002427) With Shares Advancing 30%

Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibre Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002427) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 30% 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 41% over that time.

Even after such a large jump in price, you could still be forgiven for feeling indifferent about Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibre's P/S ratio of 1.7x, since the median price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio for the Luxury industry in China is also close to 1.6x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/S without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

View our latest analysis for Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibre

How Has Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibre Performed Recently?

Revenue has risen at a steady rate over the last year for Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibre, which is generally not a bad outcome. It might be that many expect the respectable revenue performance to only match most other companies over the coming period, which has kept the P/S from rising. 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 not quite in favour.

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

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

There's an inherent assumption that a company should be matching the industry for P/S ratios like Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibre's to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 2.6% gain to the company's revenues. Although, the latest three year period in total hasn't been as good as it didn't manage to provide any growth at all. Accordingly, shareholders probably wouldn't have been overly satisfied with the unstable medium-term growth rates.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 17% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this in mind, we find it worrying that Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibre's 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. There's a good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the recent negative growth rates.

The Final Word

Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibre appears to be back in favour with a solid price jump bringing its P/S back in line with other companies in 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.

The fact that Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibre currently trades at a P/S on par with the rest of the industry is surprising to us since its recent revenues have been in decline over the medium-term, all while the industry is set to grow. When we see revenue heading backwards in the context of growing industry forecasts, it'd make sense to expect a possible share price decline on the horizon, sending the moderate P/S lower. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve markedly, investors will have a hard time accepting the share price as fair value.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibre you should know about.

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.