A Piece Of The Puzzle Missing From Mexan Limited's (HKG:22) 25% Share Price Climb

Mexan Limited (HKG:22) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 25% gain in the last month alone. Taking a wider view, although not as strong as the last month, the full year gain of 17% is also fairly reasonable.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, there still wouldn't be many who think Mexan's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.8x is worth a mention when it essentially matches the median P/S in Hong Kong's Hospitality industry. However, investors might be overlooking a clear opportunity or potential setback if there is no rational basis for the P/S.

Check out our latest analysis for Mexan

How Mexan Has Been Performing

With revenue growth that's exceedingly strong of late, Mexan has been doing very well. The P/S is probably moderate because investors think this strong revenue growth might not be enough to outperform the broader industry in the near future. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Is There Some Revenue Growth Forecasted For Mexan?

Mexan's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver moderate growth, and importantly, perform in line with the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 40% 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. Accordingly, shareholders would have been over the moon with those medium-term rates of revenue growth.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 17% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we find it interesting that Mexan is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance is at its limits and have been accepting lower selling prices.

The Bottom Line On Mexan's P/S

Mexan's stock has a lot of momentum behind it lately, which has brought its P/S level with 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.

We've established that Mexan currently trades on a lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. When we see strong revenue with faster-than-industry growth, we can only assume potential risks are what might be placing pressure on the P/S ratio. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued if recent medium-term revenue trends continue, but investors seem to think future revenue could see some volatility.

You always need to take note of risks, for example - Mexan has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

If strong companies turning a profit tickle your fancy, then you'll want to check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.