Potential Upside For Muscle Maker, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRIL) Not Without Risk

You may think that with a price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.2x Muscle Maker, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRIL) is a stock worth checking out, seeing as almost half of all the Hospitality companies in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 1.7x and even P/S higher than 4x aren't out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

See our latest analysis for Muscle Maker

What Does Muscle Maker's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Muscle Maker certainly has been doing a great job lately as it's been growing its revenue at a really rapid pace. It might be that many expect the strong revenue performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/S ratio. 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 Muscle Maker, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/S?

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an explosive gain to the company's top line. The latest three year period has also seen an incredible overall rise in revenue, aided by its incredible short-term performance. Accordingly, shareholders would have been over the moon with those medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing that recent medium-term revenue trajectory with the industry's one-year growth forecast of 31% shows it's noticeably more attractive.

With this in mind, we find it intriguing that Muscle Maker's P/S isn't as high compared to that of its industry peers. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

What Does Muscle Maker's P/S Mean For Investors?

Using the price-to-sales ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

We're very surprised to see Muscle Maker currently trading on a much lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. When we see strong revenue with faster-than-industry growth, we assume there are some significant underlying risks to the company's ability to make money which is applying downwards pressure on the P/S ratio. While recent revenue trends over the past medium-term suggest that the risk of a price decline is low, investors appear to perceive a likelihood of revenue fluctuations in the future.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Muscle Maker that you should be aware of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Muscle Maker, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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.