With a price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 2.9x Mach7 Technologies Limited (ASX:M7T) may be sending very bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all the Healthcare Services companies in Australia have P/S ratios greater than 10.3x and even P/S higher than 71x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/S.
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See our latest analysis for Mach7 Technologies
Mach7 Technologies could be doing better as it's been growing revenue less than most other companies lately. Perhaps the market is expecting the current trend of poor revenue growth to continue, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping revenue doesn't get any worse and that you could pick up some stock while it's out of favour.
Keen to find out how analysts think Mach7 Technologies' future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.In order to justify its P/S ratio, Mach7 Technologies would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the industry.
Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 24% gain to the company's top line. As a result, it also grew revenue by 29% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been respectable for the company.
Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 13% during the coming year according to the four analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 300%, which is noticeably more attractive.
In light of this, it's understandable that Mach7 Technologies' P/S sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.
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 Mach7 Technologies' analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior revenue outlook is contributing to its low P/S. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.
It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Mach7 Technologies that you need to take into consideration.
If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Mach7 Technologies, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.
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