Liuzhou Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600423) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 29% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 21% over that time.

Since its price has surged higher, you could be forgiven for thinking Liuzhou Chemical Industry is a stock to steer clear of with a price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") of 17.9x, considering almost half the companies in China's Chemicals industry have P/S ratios below 2.1x. However, the P/S might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

How Has Liuzhou Chemical Industry Performed Recently?

As an illustration, revenue has deteriorated at Liuzhou Chemical Industry over the last year, which is not ideal at all. Perhaps the market believes the company can do enough to outperform the rest of the industry in the near future, which is keeping the P/S ratio high. If not, then existing shareholders may be quite nervous about the viability of the share price.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Liuzhou Chemical Industry, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as steep as Liuzhou Chemical Industry's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the industry decidedly.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 10% decrease to the company's top line. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 20% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Weighing that medium-term revenue trajectory against the broader industry's one-year forecast for expansion of 25% shows it's an unpleasant look.

In light of this, it's alarming that Liuzhou Chemical Industry's P/S sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are ignoring the recent poor growth rate and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. There's a very good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the recent negative growth rates.

What Does Liuzhou Chemical Industry's P/S Mean For Investors?

The strong share price surge has lead to Liuzhou Chemical Industry's P/S soaring as well. 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 Liuzhou Chemical Industry currently trades on a much higher than expected P/S since its recent revenues have been in decline over the medium-term. Right now we aren't comfortable with the high P/S as this revenue performance is highly unlikely to support such positive sentiment for long. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve markedly, investors will have a hard time accepting the share price as fair value.

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

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.