There's No Escaping Yunnan Coal & Energy Co.,Ltd.'s (SHSE:600792) Muted Revenues Despite A 26% Share Price Rise

Yunnan Coal & Energy Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:600792) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 26% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 26%.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd may still be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.6x, since almost half of all companies in the Chemicals industry in China have P/S ratios greater than 1.9x and even P/S higher than 4x are not unusual. 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 Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd

How Has Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd Performed Recently?

For example, consider that Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd'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. However, if this doesn't eventuate then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

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

Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing 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 1.5%. Even so, admirably revenue has lifted 50% in aggregate from three years ago, notwithstanding the last 12 months. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a very good job of growing revenue over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

Comparing the recent medium-term revenue trends against the industry's one-year growth forecast of 25% shows it's noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd's P/S sits below the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting to see the recent limited growth rates continue into the future and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Final Word

Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd's stock price has surged recently, but its but its P/S still remains modest. Using the price-to-sales ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

Our examination of Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd confirms that the company's revenue trends over the past three-year years are a key factor in its low price-to-sales ratio, as we suspected, given they fall short of current industry expectations. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 1 warning sign for Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd that you should be aware of.

Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.