Benign Growth For Natuzzi S.p.A. (NYSE:NTZ) Underpins Its Share Price

When close to half the companies operating in the Consumer Durables industry in the United States have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 0.7x, you may consider Natuzzi S.p.A. (NYSE:NTZ) as an attractive investment with its 0.2x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

View our latest analysis for Natuzzi

How Natuzzi Has Been Performing

For example, consider that Natuzzi's financial performance has been poor lately as its revenue has been in decline. One possibility is that the P/S is low because investors think the company won't do enough to avoid underperforming the broader industry in the near future. 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.

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

Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Natuzzi?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Natuzzi would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the industry.

In reviewing the last year of financials, we were disheartened to see the company's revenues fell to the tune of 9.1%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk revenue by 20% in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 5.1% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

In light of this, it's understandable that Natuzzi's P/S would sit below the majority of other companies. However, we think shrinking revenues are unlikely to lead to a stable P/S over the longer term, which could set up shareholders for future disappointment. There's potential for the P/S to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its top-line growth.

What We Can Learn From Natuzzi's P/S?

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.

As we suspected, our examination of Natuzzi revealed its shrinking revenue over the medium-term is contributing to its low P/S, given the industry is set to grow. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises either. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Natuzzi (of which 1 is a bit concerning!) you should know about.

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.