Mr. Blue Corporation's (KOSDAQ:207760) Shareholders Might Be Looking For Exit

When you see that almost half of the companies in the Media industry in Korea have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1.6x, Mr. Blue Corporation (KOSDAQ:207760) looks to be giving off some sell signals with its 2.5x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the elevated P/S.

See our latest analysis for Mr. Blue

What Does Mr. Blue's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

The revenue growth achieved at Mr. Blue over the last year would be more than acceptable for most companies. Perhaps the market is expecting this decent revenue performance to beat out the industry over the near term, which has kept the P/S propped up. However, if this isn't the case, investors might get caught out paying too much for the stock.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Mr. Blue, 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 High P/S?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should outperform the industry for P/S ratios like Mr. Blue's to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow revenues by a handy 12% last year. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen an unpleasant 10% overall drop in revenue. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 4.7% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this information, we find it concerning that Mr. Blue is trading at a P/S higher than the industry. Apparently many investors in the company are way more bullish than recent times would indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock at any price. There's a very good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the recent negative growth rates.

What Does Mr. Blue's P/S Mean For Investors?

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.

We've established that Mr. Blue currently trades on a much higher than expected P/S since its recent revenues have been in decline over the medium-term. When we see revenue heading backwards and underperforming the industry forecasts, we feel the possibility of the share price declining is very real, bringing the P/S back into the realm of reasonability. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it will place shareholders' investments at significant risk and potential investors in danger of paying an excessive premium.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 4 warning signs with Mr. Blue (at least 2 which are a bit concerning), and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

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.