Yahoo Finance Athabasca Minerals Inc.'s (CVE:AMI) Subdued P/S Might Signal An Opportunity
When you see that almost half of the companies in the Basic Materials industry in Canada have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 2.4x, Athabasca Minerals Inc. (CVE:AMI) looks to be giving off very strong buy signals with its 0.2x P/S ratio. 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 Athabasca Minerals
How Athabasca Minerals Has Been Performing
Recent times have been quite advantageous for Athabasca Minerals as its revenue has been rising very briskly. One possibility is that the P/S ratio is low because investors think this strong revenue growth might actually underperform the broader industry in the near future. 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.
Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Athabasca Minerals will help you shine a light on its historical performance.
What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/S?
There's an inherent assumption that a company should far underperform the industry for P/S ratios like Athabasca Minerals' to be considered reasonable.
Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew revenue by an impressive 127% last year. Spectacularly, three year revenue growth has ballooned by several orders of magnitude, thanks in part to the last 12 months of revenue growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.
This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 11% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.
In light of this, it's peculiar that Athabasca Minerals' P/S sits below the majority of other companies. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.
The Final Word
It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.
We're very surprised to see Athabasca Minerals currently trading on a much lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. Potential investors that are sceptical over continued revenue performance may be preventing the P/S ratio from matching previous strong performance. While recent revenue trends over the past medium-term suggest that the risk of a price decline is low, investors appear to perceive a likelihood of revenue fluctuations in the future.
Plus, you should also learn about these 2 warning signs we've spotted with Athabasca Minerals.
If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.
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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.
