Investors Still Aren't Entirely Convinced By NIO Inc.'s (NYSE:NIO) Revenues Despite 26% Price Jump

NIO Inc. (NYSE:NIO) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 26% gain and recovering from prior weakness. But the gains over the last month weren't enough to make shareholders whole, as the share price is still down 7.3% in the last twelve months.

Although its price has surged higher, NIO's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 2.2x might still make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the wider Auto industry in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 4.4x and even P/S above 10x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/S.

View our latest analysis for NIO

How Has NIO Performed Recently?

NIO could be doing better as it's been growing revenue less than most other companies lately. Perhaps the market is expecting the current trend of poor revenue growth to continue, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping revenue doesn't get any worse and that you could pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on NIO.

How Is NIO's Revenue Growth Trending?

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 27% gain to the company's top line. Spectacularly, three year revenue growth has ballooned by several orders of magnitude, thanks in part to the last 12 months of revenue growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 37% per year during the coming three years according to the analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to only expand by 33% per year, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we find it odd that NIO is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Apparently some shareholders are doubtful of the forecasts and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

The Bottom Line On NIO's P/S

Shares in NIO have risen appreciably however, its P/S is still subdued. While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

To us, it seems NIO currently trades on a significantly depressed P/S given its forecasted revenue growth is higher than the rest of its industry. When we see strong growth forecasts like this, we can only assume potential risks are what might be placing significant pressure on the P/S ratio. At least price risks look to be very low, but investors seem to think future revenues could see a lot of volatility.

Having said that, be aware NIO is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, you should know about.

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.

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.