The ADC Therapeutics SA (NYSE:ADCT) share price has fared very poorly over the last month, falling by a substantial 27%. The good news is that in the last year, the stock has shone bright like a diamond, gaining 104%.

After such a large drop in price, ADC Therapeutics may look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 4.1x, considering almost half of all companies in the Biotechs industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 12x and even P/S higher than 69x aren't out of the ordinary. However, the P/S might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

How ADC Therapeutics Has Been Performing

ADC Therapeutics hasn't been tracking well recently as its declining revenue compares poorly to other companies, which have seen some growth in their revenues on average. Perhaps the P/S remains low as investors think the prospects of strong revenue growth aren't on the horizon. If you still 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.

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 ADC Therapeutics' to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 64% decrease to the company's top line. The latest three year period has seen an incredible overall rise in revenue, a stark contrast to the last 12 months. So while the company has done a great job in the past, it's somewhat concerning to see revenue growth decline so harshly.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 29% per year as estimated by the seven analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 140% each year, which is noticeably more attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that ADC Therapeutics' P/S sits below the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Bottom Line On ADC Therapeutics' P/S

Shares in ADC Therapeutics have plummeted and its P/S has followed suit. While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

We've established that ADC Therapeutics maintains its low P/S on the weakness of its forecast growth being lower than the wider industry, as expected. Shareholders' pessimism on the revenue prospects for the company seems to be the main contributor to the depressed P/S. The company will need a change of fortune to justify the P/S rising higher in the future.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 5 warning signs for ADC Therapeutics (1 is significant!) that we have uncovered.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on ADC Therapeutics, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.