Universe Pharmaceuticals INC (NASDAQ:UPC) Not Doing Enough For Some Investors As Its Shares Slump 44%

Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Universe Pharmaceuticals INC (NASDAQ:UPC) share price has dived 44% in the last thirty days, prolonging recent pain. The recent drop completes a disastrous twelve months for shareholders, who are sitting on a 79% loss during that time.

Following the heavy fall in price, Universe Pharmaceuticals may look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.2x, considering almost half of all companies in the Pharmaceuticals industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 2.7x and even P/S higher than 15x aren't out of the ordinary. However, the P/S might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

View our latest analysis for Universe Pharmaceuticals

How Has Universe Pharmaceuticals Performed Recently?

For example, consider that Universe Pharmaceuticals' financial performance has been poor lately as its revenue has been in decline. Perhaps the market believes the recent revenue performance isn't good enough to keep up the industry, causing the P/S ratio to suffer. 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.

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 Universe Pharmaceuticals' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

Universe Pharmaceuticals' P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling revenue, and importantly, perform much worse than the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 22% decrease to the company's top line. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 31% overall. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing revenue over that time.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 22% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a sobering picture.

With this information, we are not surprised that Universe Pharmaceuticals is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. There's potential for the P/S to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its top-line growth.

The Key Takeaway

Shares in Universe Pharmaceuticals have plummeted and its P/S has followed suit. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

As we suspected, our examination of Universe Pharmaceuticals revealed its shrinking revenue over the medium-term is contributing to its low P/S, given the industry is set to grow. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises either. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it's hard to see the share price moving strongly in either direction in the near future under these circumstances.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 4 warning signs for Universe Pharmaceuticals that you need to be mindful of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Universe Pharmaceuticals, 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.