LS Networks Corporation Limited (KRX:000680) Soars 27% But It's A Story Of Risk Vs Reward

LS Networks Corporation Limited (KRX:000680) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 27% after a shaky period beforehand. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 17% over that time.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, it's still not a stretch to say that LS Networks' price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.2x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Specialty Retail industry in Korea, where the median P/S ratio is around 0.4x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/S without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

Check out our latest analysis for LS Networks

How Has LS Networks Performed Recently?

With revenue growth that's exceedingly strong of late, LS Networks has been doing very well. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to taper off, which has kept the P/S from rising. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

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

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The P/S Ratio?

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

If we review the last year of revenue growth, we see the company's revenues grew exponentially. The amazing performance means it was also able to grow revenue by 287% 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 recent medium-term revenue trajectory with the industry's one-year growth forecast of 17% shows it's noticeably more attractive.

With this information, we find it interesting that LS Networks is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance is at its limits and have been accepting lower selling prices.

The Final Word

LS Networks' stock has a lot of momentum behind it lately, which has brought its P/S level with the rest of the industry. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

We didn't quite envision LS Networks' P/S sitting in line with the wider industry, considering the revenue growth over the last three-year is higher than the current industry outlook. It'd be fair to assume that potential risks the company faces could be the contributing factor to the lower than expected P/S. While recent revenue trends over the past medium-term suggest that the risk of a price decline is low, investors appear to see the likelihood of revenue fluctuations in the future.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 1 warning sign for LS Networks that you should be aware of.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So if growing profitability aligns with your idea of a great company, take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.