Geospace Technologies Corporation's (NASDAQ:GEOS) Shares Leap 28% Yet They're Still Not Telling The Full Story

Geospace Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:GEOS) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 28% gain in the last month alone. Looking further back, the 20% rise over the last twelve months isn't too bad notwithstanding the strength over the last 30 days.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, it's still not a stretch to say that Geospace Technologies' price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.3x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Energy Services industry in the United States, where the median P/S ratio is around 1x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/S ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

See our latest analysis for Geospace Technologies

What Does Geospace Technologies' Recent Performance Look Like?

Revenue has risen at a steady rate over the last year for Geospace Technologies, which is generally not a bad outcome. It might be that many expect the respectable revenue performance to only match most other companies over the coming period, which has kept the P/S from rising. If not, then at least existing shareholders probably aren't too pessimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Geospace Technologies, 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 P/S Ratio?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Geospace Technologies would need to produce growth that's similar to the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 6.9% gain to the company's revenues. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 34% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenues over that time.

When compared to the industry's one-year growth forecast of 6.4%, the most recent medium-term revenue trajectory is noticeably more alluring

In light of this, it's curious that Geospace Technologies' P/S sits in line with the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance is at its limits and have been accepting lower selling prices.

The Final Word

Geospace Technologies appears to be back in favour with a solid price jump bringing its P/S back in line with other companies in the industry It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

To our surprise, Geospace Technologies revealed its three-year revenue trends aren't contributing to its P/S as much as we would have predicted, given they look better than current industry expectations. There could be some unobserved threats to revenue preventing the P/S ratio from matching this positive performance. It appears some are indeed anticipating revenue instability, because the persistence of these recent medium-term conditions would normally provide a boost to the share price.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Geospace Technologies you should know about.

If strong companies turning a profit tickle your fancy, then you'll want to check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.