Revenues Not Telling The Story For Philoptics Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:161580) After Shares Rise 28%

Philoptics Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:161580) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 28% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 95%.

After such a large jump in price, when almost half of the companies in Korea's Semiconductor industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1.3x, you may consider Philoptics as a stock probably not worth researching with its 2.6x P/S ratio. However, the P/S might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

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See our latest analysis for Philoptics

How Has Philoptics Performed Recently?

With revenue growth that's exceedingly strong of late, Philoptics has been doing very well. It seems that many are expecting the strong revenue performance to beat most other companies over the coming period, which has increased investors’ willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Philoptics will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

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 Philoptics' to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 60%. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow revenue by 48% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 26% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

In light of this, it's alarming that Philoptics' P/S sits above the majority of other companies. 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 good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with recent growth rates.

The Bottom Line On Philoptics' P/S

Philoptics' P/S is on the rise since its shares have risen strongly. 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.

Our examination of Philoptics revealed its poor three-year revenue trends aren't detracting from the P/S as much as we though, given they look worse than current industry expectations. Right now we aren't comfortable with the high P/S as this revenue performance isn't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. Unless there is a significant improvement in the company's medium-term performance, it will be difficult to prevent the P/S ratio from declining to a more reasonable level.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Philoptics that you should be aware of.

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.