China Vocational Education Holdings Limited's (HKG:1756) Share Price Is Matching Sentiment Around Its Revenues

China Vocational Education Holdings Limited's (HKG:1756) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.6x may look like a pretty appealing investment opportunity when you consider close to half the companies in the Consumer Services industry in Hong Kong have P/S ratios greater than 1.2x. 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 China Vocational Education Holdings

How Has China Vocational Education Holdings Performed Recently?

China Vocational Education Holdings has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing revenue at a solid pace. It might be that many expect the respectable revenue performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/S. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

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 China Vocational Education Holdings' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

China Vocational Education Holdings' P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 19% gain to the company's top line. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 42% overall rise in revenue, aided by its short-term performance. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 18% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is weaker, based on recent medium-term annualised revenue results.

With this in consideration, it's easy to understand why China Vocational Education Holdings' P/S falls short of the mark set by its industry peers. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the wider industry.

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.

Our examination of China Vocational Education Holdings confirms that the company's revenue trends over the past three-year years are a key factor in its low price-to-sales ratio, as we suspected, given they fall short of current industry expectations. 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.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for China Vocational Education Holdings that 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.