Zhongchao Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ZCMD) Shares Bounce 32% But Its Business Still Trails The Industry

Those holding Zhongchao Inc. (NASDAQ:ZCMD) shares would be relieved that the share price has rebounded 32% in the last thirty days, but it needs to keep going to repair the recent damage it has caused to investor portfolios. But the last month did very little to improve the 85% share price decline over the last year.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, given about half the companies operating in the United States' Consumer Services industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 1.3x, you may still consider Zhongchao as an attractive investment with its 0.2x P/S ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

Check out our latest analysis for Zhongchao

How Zhongchao Has Been Performing

The revenue growth achieved at Zhongchao over the last year would be more than acceptable for most companies. One possibility is that the P/S is low because investors think this respectable revenue growth might actually underperform the broader industry in the near future. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Zhongchao, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on 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 Zhongchao's to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 15% gain to the company's top line. As a result, it also grew revenue by 5.3% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing revenue over that time.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 16% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this in consideration, it's easy to understand why Zhongchao's P/S falls short of the mark set by its industry peers. It seems most investors are expecting to see the recent limited growth rates continue into the future and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift Zhongchao's P/S close to the industry median. 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 Zhongchao revealed its three-year revenue trends are contributing to its low P/S, given they look worse than current industry expectations. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

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

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

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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.