Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRO) share price has dived 28% in the last thirty days, prolonging recent pain. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 41% in that time.

Following the heavy fall in price, Sutro Biopharma may look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.6x, considering almost half of all companies in the Biotechs industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 11x and even P/S higher than 63x aren't out of the ordinary. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.

What Does Sutro Biopharma's Recent Performance Look Like?

Recent times have been advantageous for Sutro Biopharma as its revenues have been rising faster than most other companies. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to dive, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If the company manages to stay the course, then investors should be rewarded with a share price that matches its revenue figures.

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

Sutro Biopharma's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling revenue, and importantly, perform much worse than the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 107%. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 207% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Accordingly, shareholders would have definitely welcomed those medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should bring diminished returns, with revenue decreasing 12% per annum as estimated by the eleven analysts watching the company. With the industry predicted to deliver 199% growth per year, that's a disappointing outcome.

In light of this, it's understandable that Sutro Biopharma's P/S would sit below the majority of other companies. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.

The Key Takeaway

Having almost fallen off a cliff, Sutro Biopharma's share price has pulled its P/S way down as well. 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.

It's clear to see that Sutro Biopharma maintains its low P/S on the weakness of its forecast for sliding revenue, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Sutro Biopharma that you should be aware of.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com