Pacific Legend Group Limited's (HKG:8547) Shares Climb 49% But Its Business Is Yet to Catch Up

Pacific Legend Group Limited (HKG:8547) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 49% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 26% in the last twelve months.

Although its price has surged higher, it's still not a stretch to say that Pacific Legend Group's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.1x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Specialty Retail industry in Hong Kong, where the median P/S ratio is around 0.5x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/S ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

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Check out our latest analysis for Pacific Legend Group

What Does Pacific Legend Group's Recent Performance Look Like?

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Pacific Legend Group as its revenue has been rising very briskly. It might be that many expect the strong revenue performance to wane, which has kept the share price, and thus the P/S ratio, from rising. Those who are bullish on Pacific Legend 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 Pacific Legend 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 P/S?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should be matching the industry for P/S ratios like Pacific Legend Group's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 31%. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow revenue by 34% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenue over that time.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 29% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is weaker, based on recent medium-term annualised revenue results.

With this information, we find it interesting that Pacific Legend Group is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly limited recent growth rates and are willing to pay up for exposure to the stock. Maintaining these prices will be difficult to achieve as a continuation of recent revenue trends is likely to weigh down the shares eventually.

The Key Takeaway

Pacific Legend Group's stock has a lot of momentum behind it lately, which has brought its P/S level with the rest of the industry. 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've established that Pacific Legend Group's average P/S is a bit surprising since its recent three-year growth is lower than the wider industry forecast. Right now we are uncomfortable with the P/S as this revenue performance isn't likely to support a more positive sentiment for long. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, it's hard to accept the current share price as fair value.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Pacific Legend Group (2 are potentially serious!) that you should be aware of.

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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.