Focus Minerals Limited (ASX:FML) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 30% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. Not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 12% in the last twelve months.

Even after such a large jump in price, Focus Minerals' price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.3x might still make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the wider Metals and Mining industry in Australia, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 67.2x and even P/S above 445x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/S.

Check out our latest analysis for Focus Minerals

How Focus Minerals Has Been Performing

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Focus Minerals as its revenue has been rising very briskly. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to dwindle, which has kept the P/S suppressed. Those who are bullish on Focus Minerals will be hoping that this isn't the case, so that they can pick up the stock at a lower valuation.

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 Focus Minerals' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 100% gain to the company's top line. This great performance means it was also able to deliver immense revenue growth over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a tremendous job of growing revenue over that time.

Comparing that recent medium-term revenue trajectory with the industry's one-year growth forecast of 40% shows it's noticeably more attractive.

With this information, we find it odd that Focus Minerals is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

The Bottom Line On Focus Minerals' P/S

Shares in Focus Minerals have risen appreciably however, its P/S is still subdued. Using the price-to-sales ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

Our examination of Focus Minerals revealed its three-year revenue trends aren't boosting its P/S anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given they look better than current industry expectations. When we see strong revenue with faster-than-industry growth, we assume there are some significant underlying risks to the company's ability to make money which is applying downwards pressure on the P/S ratio. At least price risks look to be very low if recent medium-term revenue trends continue, but investors seem to think future revenue could see a lot of volatility.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 4 warning signs for Focus Minerals (2 can't be ignored!) that we have uncovered.

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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