Why Investors Shouldn't Be Surprised By MediaCo Holding Inc.'s (NASDAQ:MDIA) 27% Share Price Plunge

To the annoyance of some shareholders, MediaCo Holding Inc. (NASDAQ:MDIA) shares are down a considerable 27% in the last month, which continues a horrid run for the company. The recent drop completes a disastrous twelve months for shareholders, who are sitting on a 64% loss during that time.

Following the heavy fall in price, when close to half the companies operating in the United States' Media industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 1x, you may consider MediaCo Holding as an enticing stock to check out with its 0.3x P/S ratio. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

View our latest analysis for MediaCo Holding

What Does MediaCo Holding's Recent Performance Look Like?

MediaCo Holding has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing revenue at a solid pace. Perhaps the market is expecting this acceptable revenue performance to take a dive, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on MediaCo Holding's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For MediaCo Holding?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as low as MediaCo Holding's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew revenue by an impressive 24% last year. Despite this strong recent growth, it's still struggling to catch up as its three-year revenue frustratingly shrank by 15% overall. 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 30% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this in mind, we understand why MediaCo Holding's P/S is lower than most of its industry peers. 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. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent revenue trends are already weighing down the shares.

What We Can Learn From MediaCo Holding's P/S?

MediaCo Holding's recently weak share price has pulled its P/S back below other Media companies. We'd say the price-to-sales ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of MediaCo Holding revealed its shrinking revenue over the medium-term is contributing to its low P/S, given the industry is set to grow. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. 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 5 warning signs for MediaCo Holding (3 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of.

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.