There Is A Reason Cyber Security 1 AB (publ)'s (STO:CYB1) Price Is Undemanding

When you see that almost half of the companies in the IT industry in Sweden have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 1x, Cyber Security 1 AB (publ) (STO:CYB1) looks to be giving off some buy signals with its 0.2x P/S ratio. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

View our latest analysis for Cyber Security 1

How Has Cyber Security 1 Performed Recently?

Cyber Security 1 has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing revenue at a solid pace. It might be that many expect the respectable revenue performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/S. 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 out of favour.

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Cyber Security 1's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the industry for P/S ratios like Cyber Security 1's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 18%. As a result, it also grew revenue by 9.5% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably been satisfied with the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing the recent medium-term revenue trends against the industry's one-year growth forecast of 9.5% shows it's noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that Cyber Security 1's P/S sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the wider industry.

What Does Cyber Security 1's P/S Mean For Investors?

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.

As we suspected, our examination of Cyber Security 1 revealed its three-year revenue trends are contributing to its low P/S, given they look worse than current industry expectations. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Having said that, be aware Cyber Security 1 is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is concerning.

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).

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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.