Investors Don't See Light At End Of Nanjing Chixia Development Co.,Ltd.'s (SHSE:600533) Tunnel And Push Stock Down 25%

Nanjing Chixia Development Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:600533) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month, dropping 25% and undoing the prior period's positive performance. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 36% share price drop.

After such a large drop in price, Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.6x might make it look like a buy right now compared to the Real Estate industry in China, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 1.6x and even P/S above 4x are quite common. 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 Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd

How Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd Has Been Performing

For example, consider that Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd'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. Those who are bullish on Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd will be hoping that this isn't the case so that they can pick up the stock at a lower valuation.

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Is Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd's Revenue Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the industry for P/S ratios like Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd's to be considered reasonable.

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 58%. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 23% 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 4.8% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this in mind, we understand why Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd'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 Final Word

The southerly movements of Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd's shares means its P/S is now sitting at a pretty low level. 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 Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd 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. Given the current circumstances, it seems unlikely that the share price will experience any significant movement in either direction in the near future if recent medium-term revenue trends persist.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 3 warning signs for Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd that you need to be mindful of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Nanjing Chixia DevelopmentLtd, 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com