Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Dada Nexus Limited (NASDAQ:DADA) share price has dived 26% in the last thirty days, prolonging recent pain. The recent drop completes a disastrous twelve months for shareholders, who are sitting on a 75% loss during that time.

Although its price has dipped substantially, it's still not a stretch to say that Dada Nexus' price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.3x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Consumer Retailing industry in the United States, where the median P/S ratio is around 0.4x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/S without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

How Has Dada Nexus Performed Recently?

Dada Nexus' revenue growth of late has been pretty similar to most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the mediocre revenue performance to persist, which has held the P/S ratio back. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this can at least be maintained so that you could pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

How Is Dada Nexus' Revenue Growth Trending?

Dada Nexus' 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.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow revenues by a handy 5.5% last year. This was backed up an excellent period prior to see revenue up by 65% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenues over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the eleven analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 9.2% each year over the next three years. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 5.0% per year growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this information, we find it interesting that Dada Nexus is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. It may be that most investors aren't convinced the company can achieve future growth expectations.

The Bottom Line On Dada Nexus' P/S

With its share price dropping off a cliff, the P/S for Dada Nexus looks to be in line with the rest of the Consumer Retailing industry. 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.

Despite enticing revenue growth figures that outpace the industry, Dada Nexus' P/S isn't quite what we'd expect. There could be some risks that the market is pricing in, which is preventing the P/S ratio from matching the positive outlook. It appears some are indeed anticipating revenue instability, because these conditions should normally provide a boost to the share price.

Having said that, be aware Dada Nexus is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis, you should know about.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So if growing profitability aligns with your idea of a great company, take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.

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