Jiangsu Nanfang Medical Co., Ltd.'s (SHSE:603880) Shares Bounce 25% But Its Business Still Trails The Industry

Jiangsu Nanfang Medical Co., Ltd. (SHSE:603880) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 25% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. Not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 33% in the last twelve months.

Although its price has surged higher, Jiangsu Nanfang Medical may still look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 2x, considering almost half of all companies in the Medical Equipment industry in China have P/S ratios greater than 6.4x and even P/S higher than 10x aren't out of the ordinary. However, the P/S might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

See our latest analysis for Jiangsu Nanfang Medical

What Does Jiangsu Nanfang Medical's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

The revenue growth achieved at Jiangsu Nanfang Medical over the last year would be more than acceptable for most companies. Perhaps the market is expecting this acceptable revenue performance to take a dive, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Jiangsu Nanfang Medical, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on 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 Jiangsu Nanfang Medical's to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 21% gain to the company's top line. Still, revenue has fallen 41% in total from three years ago, which is quite disappointing. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Weighing that medium-term revenue trajectory against the broader industry's one-year forecast for expansion of 26% shows it's an unpleasant look.

With this in mind, we understand why Jiangsu Nanfang Medical's P/S is lower than most of its industry peers. 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.

What We Can Learn From Jiangsu Nanfang Medical's P/S?

Shares in Jiangsu Nanfang Medical have risen appreciably however, its P/S is still subdued. It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

As we suspected, our examination of Jiangsu Nanfang Medical revealed its shrinking revenue over the medium-term is contributing to its low P/S, given the industry is set to grow. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises either. 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.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Jiangsu Nanfang Medical you should know about.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.