Investors Don't See Light At End Of Shenyang Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:000698) Tunnel

With a price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.6x Shenyang Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (SZSE:000698) may be sending bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all the Chemicals companies in China have P/S ratios greater than 2x and even P/S higher than 5x 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 Shenyang Chemical Industry

What Does Shenyang Chemical Industry's Recent Performance Look Like?

As an illustration, revenue has deteriorated at Shenyang Chemical Industry over the last year, which is not ideal at all. 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 Shenyang Chemical Industry, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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

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

In reviewing the last year of financials, we were disheartened to see the company's revenues fell to the tune of 29%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk revenue by 49% in aggregate. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing revenue over that time.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 26% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this in mind, we understand why Shenyang Chemical Industry'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.

The Key Takeaway

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 Shenyang Chemical Industry 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. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Shenyang Chemical Industry (at least 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable), and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Shenyang Chemical Industry, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.