What Zillow Group, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ZG) P/S Is Not Telling You

When you see that almost half of the companies in the Real Estate industry in the United States have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1.7x, Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZG) looks to be giving off strong sell signals with its 6x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/S.

View our latest analysis for Zillow Group

What Does Zillow Group's Recent Performance Look Like?

Zillow Group could be doing better as its revenue has been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive revenue growth. Perhaps the market is expecting the poor revenue to reverse, justifying it's current high P/S.. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

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

How Is Zillow Group's Revenue Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Zillow Group would need to produce outstanding growth that's well in excess of the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered virtually the same number to the company's top line as the year before. Regardless, revenue has managed to lift by a handy 20% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the earlier period of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say that revenue growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 13% per year as estimated by the analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be similar to the 12% per year growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this information, we find it interesting that Zillow Group is trading at a high P/S compared to the industry. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly average growth expectations and are willing to pay up for exposure to the stock. These shareholders may be setting themselves up for disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the growth outlook.

The Key Takeaway

While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

Seeing as its revenues are forecast to grow in line with the wider industry, it would appear that Zillow Group currently trades on a higher than expected P/S. Right now we are uncomfortable with the relatively high share price as the predicted future revenues aren't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. Unless the company can jump ahead of the rest of the industry in the short-term, it'll be a challenge to maintain the share price at current levels.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 1 warning sign for Zillow Group that you should be aware of.

Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.