Revenues Not Telling The Story For Vallourec S.A. (EPA:VK)

There wouldn't be many who think Vallourec S.A.'s (EPA:VK) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.6x is worth a mention when the median P/S for the Energy Services industry in France is similar at about 0.8x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/S without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

View our latest analysis for Vallourec

What Does Vallourec's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Recent times haven't been great for Vallourec as its revenue has been rising slower than most other companies. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to lift, which has kept the P/S from declining. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Vallourec.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The P/S Ratio?

Vallourec's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver moderate growth, and importantly, perform in line with the industry.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew revenue by an impressive 22% last year. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 57% in aggregate from three years ago, 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 bring diminished returns, with revenue decreasing 3.0% each year as estimated by the six analysts watching the company. With the industry predicted to deliver 3.8% growth per annum, that's a disappointing outcome.

With this in consideration, we think it doesn't make sense that Vallourec's P/S is closely matching its industry peers. Apparently many investors in the company reject the analyst cohort's pessimism and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. There's a good chance these shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the negative growth outlook.

The Final Word

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.

While Vallourec's P/S isn't anything out of the ordinary for companies in the industry, we didn't expect it given forecasts of revenue decline. When we see a gloomy outlook like this, our immediate thoughts are that the share price is at risk of declining, negatively impacting P/S. If the poor revenue outlook tells us one thing, it's that these current price levels could be unsustainable.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 1 warning sign for Vallourec that you need to be mindful 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.