Talent Property Group Limited's (HKG:760) Shares Leap 37% Yet They're Still Not Telling The Full Story

Talent Property Group Limited (HKG:760) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 37% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 24% over that time.

Even after such a large jump in price, Talent Property Group may still be sending buy signals at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.1x, considering almost half of all companies in the Real Estate industry in Hong Kong have P/S ratios greater than 0.7x and even P/S higher than 3x aren't out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

Check out our latest analysis for Talent Property Group

How Has Talent Property Group Performed Recently?

For example, consider that Talent Property Group's financial performance has been poor lately as its revenue has been in decline. It might be that many expect the disappointing revenue performance to continue or accelerate, which has repressed the P/S. Those who are bullish on Talent Property Group will be hoping that this isn't the case so that they can pick up the stock at a lower valuation.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Talent Property Group, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Talent Property Group would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the industry.

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 5.2%. Regardless, revenue has managed to lift by a handy 27% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the earlier period of growth. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the revenue growth recently has been mostly respectable for the company.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 4.9% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

In light of this, it's peculiar that Talent Property Group's P/S sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance has exceeded its limits and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

What We Can Learn From Talent Property Group's P/S?

Talent Property Group's stock price has surged recently, but its but its P/S still remains modest. While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

We're very surprised to see Talent Property Group currently trading on a much lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. Potential investors that are sceptical over continued revenue performance may be preventing the P/S ratio from matching previous strong performance. While recent revenue trends over the past medium-term suggest that the risk of a price decline is low, investors appear to perceive a likelihood of revenue fluctuations in the future.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 1 warning sign for Talent Property Group you should be aware 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.