Some Confidence Is Lacking In Juniper Hotels Limited's (NSE:JUNIPER) P/S

You may think that with a price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 7.4x Juniper Hotels Limited (NSE:JUNIPER) is a stock to avoid completely, seeing as almost half of all the Hospitality companies in India have P/S ratios under 4.6x and even P/S lower than 2x 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 highly elevated P/S.

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What Does Juniper Hotels' P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Recent times haven't been great for Juniper Hotels as its revenue has been rising slower than most other companies. It might be that many expect the uninspiring revenue performance to recover significantly, which has kept the P/S ratio from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

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How Is Juniper Hotels' Revenue Growth Trending?

Juniper Hotels' P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 15% gain to the company's top line. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 206% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Accordingly, shareholders would have definitely welcomed those medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 15% each year during the coming three years according to the three analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 26% per year, which is noticeably more attractive.

With this in consideration, we believe it doesn't make sense that Juniper Hotels' P/S is outpacing its industry peers. It seems most investors are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects, but the analyst cohort is not so confident this will happen. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as this level of revenue growth is likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.

The Final Word

It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

We've concluded that Juniper Hotels currently trades on a much higher than expected P/S since its forecast growth is lower than the wider industry. The weakness in the company's revenue estimate doesn't bode well for the elevated P/S, which could take a fall if the revenue sentiment doesn't improve. Unless these conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. You can assess many of the main risks through our free balance sheet analysis for Juniper Hotels with six simple checks.

If you're unsure about the strength of Juniper Hotels' business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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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.