Investors Interested In Cellnex Telecom, S.A.'s (BME:CLNX) Revenues

When close to half the companies in the Telecom industry in Spain have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1.1x, you may consider Cellnex Telecom, S.A. (BME:CLNX) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 6.4x P/S ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so lofty.

See our latest analysis for Cellnex Telecom

How Cellnex Telecom Has Been Performing

Recent times have been advantageous for Cellnex Telecom as its revenues have been rising faster than most other companies. It seems the market expects this form will continue into the future, hence the elevated P/S ratio. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Keen to find out how analysts think Cellnex Telecom's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

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

Cellnex Telecom's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the industry.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow revenues by a handy 13% last year. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 164% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 8.1% per year as estimated by the analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 1.7% per annum growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this in mind, it's not hard to understand why Cellnex Telecom's P/S is high relative to its industry peers. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

What Does Cellnex Telecom's P/S Mean For Investors?

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.

As we suspected, our examination of Cellnex Telecom's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior revenue outlook is contributing to its high P/S. It appears that shareholders are confident in the company's future revenues, which is propping up the P/S. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

The company's balance sheet is another key area for risk analysis. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for Cellnex Telecom with six simple checks on some of these key factors.

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.