Citychamp Dartong Co.,Ltd.'s (SHSE:600067) Shares Bounce 31% But Its Business Still Trails The Industry

Citychamp Dartong Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:600067) shareholders have had their patience rewarded with a 31% share price jump in the last month. The bad news is that even after the stocks recovery in the last 30 days, shareholders are still underwater by about 7.6% over the last year.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, Citychamp DartongLtd may still be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.3x, since almost half of all companies in the Real Estate industry in China have P/S ratios greater than 1.9x 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.

View our latest analysis for Citychamp DartongLtd

How Citychamp DartongLtd Has Been Performing

The revenue growth achieved at Citychamp DartongLtd over the last year would be more than acceptable for most companies. One possibility is that the P/S is low because investors think this respectable revenue growth might actually underperform the broader industry in the near future. 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 Citychamp DartongLtd, 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?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Citychamp DartongLtd would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 21%. Despite this strong recent growth, it's still struggling to catch up as its three-year revenue frustratingly shrank by 9.7% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 11% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this information, we are not surprised that Citychamp DartongLtd 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

The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift Citychamp DartongLtd's P/S close to the industry median. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

Our examination of Citychamp DartongLtd confirms that the company's shrinking revenue over the past medium-term is a key factor in its low price-to-sales ratio, given the industry is projected 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.

You always need to take note of risks, for example - Citychamp DartongLtd has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

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.