A Piece Of The Puzzle Missing From China Youran Dairy Group Limited's (HKG:9858) 28% Share Price Climb

Despite an already strong run, China Youran Dairy Group Limited (HKG:9858) shares have been powering on, with a gain of 28% in the last thirty days. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 60%.

Although its price has surged higher, you could still be forgiven for feeling indifferent about China Youran Dairy Group's P/S ratio of 0.4x, since the median price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio for the Food industry in Hong Kong is also close to 0.5x. However, investors might be overlooking a clear opportunity or potential setback if there is no rational basis for the P/S.

Check out our latest analysis for China Youran Dairy Group

What Does China Youran Dairy Group's Recent Performance Look Like?

With its revenue growth in positive territory compared to the declining revenue of most other companies, China Youran Dairy Group has been doing quite well of late. Perhaps the market is expecting its current strong performance to taper off in accordance to the rest of the industry, which has kept the P/S contained. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on China Youran Dairy Group will help you uncover what's on the horizon.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The P/S Ratio?

China Youran Dairy Group'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 managed to grow revenues by a handy 6.8% last year. This was backed up an excellent period prior to see revenue up by 43% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the three analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 9.2% over the next year. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 5.6% growth forecast for the broader industry.

In light of this, it's curious that China Youran Dairy Group's P/S sits in line with the majority of other companies. It may be that most investors aren't convinced the company can achieve future growth expectations.

What We Can Learn From China Youran Dairy Group's P/S?

China Youran Dairy Group appears to be back in favour with a solid price jump bringing its P/S back in line with other companies in the industry 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.

We've established that China Youran Dairy Group currently trades on a lower than expected P/S since its forecasted revenue growth is higher than the wider industry. When we see a strong revenue outlook, with growth outpacing the industry, we can only assume potential uncertainty around these figures are what might be placing slight pressure on the P/S ratio. It appears some are indeed anticipating revenue instability, because these conditions should normally provide a boost to the share price.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 1 warning sign for China Youran Dairy Group you should be aware of.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.