America's Car-Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRMT) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 32% after a shaky period beforehand. The bad news is that even after the stocks recovery in the last 30 days, shareholders are still underwater by about 6.2% over the last year.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, there still wouldn't be many who think America's Car-Mart's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.3x is worth a mention when the median P/S in the United States' Specialty Retail industry is similar at about 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 America's Car-Mart Performed Recently?

While the industry has experienced revenue growth lately, America's Car-Mart's revenue has gone into reverse gear, which is not great. Perhaps the market is expecting its poor revenue performance to improve, keeping the P/S from dropping. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a relatively elevated price for a company with this sort of growth profile.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The P/S Ratio?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should be matching the industry for P/S ratios like America's Car-Mart's to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, the company's revenue growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 5.4%. Regardless, revenue has managed to lift by a handy 27% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the earlier period of growth. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the revenue growth recently has been mostly respectable for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should bring diminished returns, with revenue decreasing 4.5% as estimated by the four analysts watching the company. With the industry predicted to deliver 4.4% growth, that's a disappointing outcome.

In light of this, it's somewhat alarming that America's Car-Mart's P/S sits in line with the majority of other companies. Apparently many investors in the company reject the analyst cohort's pessimism and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. There's a good chance these shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the negative growth outlook.

What Does America's Car-Mart's P/S Mean For Investors?

America's Car-Mart appears to be back in favour with a solid price jump bringing its P/S back in line with other companies in the industry We'd say the price-to-sales ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

It appears that America's Car-Mart currently trades on a higher than expected P/S for a company whose revenues are forecast to decline. With this in mind, we don't feel the current P/S is justified as declining revenues are unlikely to support a more positive sentiment for long. If we consider the revenue outlook, the P/S seems to indicate that potential investors may be paying a premium for the stock.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 2 warning signs for America's Car-Mart (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on America's Car-Mart, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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