Viant Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:DSP) Held Back By Insufficient Growth Even After Shares Climb 28%

Viant Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:DSP) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 28% gain in the last month alone. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 88%.

Although its price has surged higher, Viant Technology may still look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.6x, considering almost half of all companies in the Software industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 4.3x and even P/S higher than 12x aren't out of the ordinary. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.

Check out our latest analysis for Viant Technology

What Does Viant Technology's Recent Performance Look Like?

Viant Technology 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. Perhaps the P/S remains low as investors think the prospects of strong revenue growth aren't on the horizon. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Viant Technology?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as depressed as Viant Technology's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry decidedly.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 5.5% decrease to the company's top line. However, a few very strong years before that means that it was still able to grow revenue by an impressive 33% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a very good job of growing revenue over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the five analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 11% each year over the next three years. With the industry predicted to deliver 17% growth per year, the company is positioned for a weaker revenue result.

With this in consideration, its clear as to why Viant Technology's P/S is falling short industry peers. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

What Does Viant Technology's P/S Mean For Investors?

Even after such a strong price move, Viant Technology's P/S still trails the rest of the industry. 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 expected, our analysis of Viant Technology's analyst forecasts confirms that the company's underwhelming revenue outlook is a major contributor to its low P/S. Shareholders' pessimism on the revenue prospects for the company seems to be the main contributor to the depressed P/S. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. You can assess many of the main risks through our free balance sheet analysis for Viant Technology with six simple checks.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Viant Technology, 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.