Little Excitement Around AMC Networks Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AMCX) Revenues As Shares Take 27% Pounding

AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:AMCX) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month, dropping 27% and undoing the prior period's positive performance. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 34% in that time.

Since its price has dipped substantially, when close to half the companies operating in the United States' Media industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 0.9x, you may consider AMC Networks as an enticing stock to check out with its 0.2x P/S ratio. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

See our latest analysis for AMC Networks

What Does AMC Networks' Recent Performance Look Like?

AMC Networks hasn't been tracking well recently as its declining revenue compares poorly to other companies, which have seen some growth in their revenues on average. It seems that many are expecting the poor revenue performance to persist, which has repressed the P/S ratio. If you still 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.

Keen to find out how analysts think AMC Networks' future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

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

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

Taking a look back first, the company's revenue growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 12%. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 3.7% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should bring diminished returns, with revenue decreasing 4.2% per annum as estimated by the eight analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the broader industry is forecast to expand by 5.1% per annum, which paints a poor picture.

With this in consideration, we find it intriguing that AMC Networks' P/S is closely matching its industry peers. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.

The Key Takeaway

AMC Networks' P/S has taken a dip along with its share price. 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 AMC Networks' analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking revenue is contributing to its low P/S. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Having said that, be aware AMC Networks is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 2 of those shouldn't be ignored.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So if growing profitability aligns with your idea of a great company, take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.