Cy4gate S.p.A.'s (BIT:CY4) 26% Dip Still Leaving Some Shareholders Feeling Restless Over Its P/SRatio

Cy4gate S.p.A. (BIT:CY4) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 26% share price drop in the last month. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 46% in that time.

Although its price has dipped substantially, you could still be forgiven for feeling indifferent about Cy4gate's P/S ratio of 1x, since the median price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio for the Software industry in Italy is also close to 1.1x. 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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See our latest analysis for Cy4gate

What Does Cy4gate's Recent Performance Look Like?

Recent times haven't been great for Cy4gate as its revenue has been rising slower than most other companies. It might be that many expect the uninspiring revenue performance to strengthen positively, which has kept the P/S ratio from falling. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on Cy4gate will help you uncover what's on the horizon.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The P/S Ratio?

Cy4gate'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 10.0% last year. Spectacularly, three year revenue growth has ballooned by several orders of magnitude, even though the last 12 months were fairly tame in comparison. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a tremendous job of growing revenue over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the dual analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 9.8% per annum over the next three years. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 16% per annum growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this information, we find it interesting that Cy4gate is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. Apparently many investors in the company are less bearish than analysts indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. Maintaining these prices will be difficult to achieve as this level of revenue growth is likely to weigh down the shares eventually.

What We Can Learn From Cy4gate's P/S?

Cy4gate's plummeting stock price has brought its P/S back to a similar region as the rest of the industry. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

Given that Cy4gate's revenue growth projections are relatively subdued in comparison to the wider industry, it comes as a surprise to see it trading at its current P/S ratio. At present, we aren't confident in the P/S as the predicted future revenues aren't likely to support a more positive sentiment for long. Circumstances like this present a risk to current and prospective investors who may see share prices fall if the low revenue growth impacts the sentiment.

Having said that, be aware Cy4gate is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis, you should know about.

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.