Zhihu Inc. (NYSE:ZH) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 30% share price drop in the last month. The recent drop completes a disastrous twelve months for shareholders, who are sitting on a 57% loss during that time.
After such a large drop in price, Zhihu may be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.5x, since almost half of all companies in the Interactive Media and Services industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 1.4x and even P/S higher than 4x are not unusual. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
NYSE:ZH Price to Sales Ratio vs Industry June 18th 2024
What Does Zhihu's P/S Mean For Shareholders?
Zhihu could be doing better as it's been growing revenue less than most other companies lately. The P/S ratio is probably low because investors think this lacklustre revenue performance isn't going to get any better. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.
If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Zhihu.
What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/S?
Zhihu's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the industry.
If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 8.0%. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 154% overall rise in revenue, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. 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 2.2% each year as estimated by the seven analysts watching the company. That's not great when the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 12% per year.
With this in consideration, we find it intriguing that Zhihu's P/S is closely matching its industry peers. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. There's potential for the P/S to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its top-line growth.
The Bottom Line On Zhihu's P/S
Zhihu's recently weak share price has pulled its P/S back below other Interactive Media and Services companies. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.
As we suspected, our examination of Zhihu's analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking revenue is contributing to its low P/S. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.
You always need to take note of risks, for example - Zhihu has 1 warning sign we think 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).
上個月股價下跌了30%,這給那些等待事情發生的知乎公司(紐約證券交易所代碼:ZH)的股東受到了打擊。對於股東來說,最近的下跌結束了災難性的十二個月,在此期間,股東虧損了57%。
在價格大幅下跌之後,知乎目前可能正在發出看漲信號,其市銷率(或 “市盈率”)爲0.5倍,因爲美國互動媒體和服務行業幾乎有一半的公司市盈率大於1.4倍,甚至市銷率高於4倍也並不罕見。但是,市銷率低可能是有原因的,需要進一步調查以確定其是否合理。
紐約證券交易所:ZH 與行業的股價銷售比率 2024 年 6 月 18 日
知乎的市銷率對股東意味着什麼?
知乎的表現可能會更好,因爲它最近的收入增長幅度低於大多數其他公司。市銷率可能很低,因爲投資者認爲這種乏善可陳的收入表現不會好轉。如果是這樣的話,那麼現有股東可能很難對股價的未來走向感到興奮。
如果你想了解分析師對未來的預測,你應該查看我們在知乎上的免費報告。
收入增長指標告訴我們低市銷率有哪些?
知乎的市銷率對於一家預計增長有限,而且重要的是表現不如行業的公司來說是典型的。
如果我們回顧一下去年的收入增長,該公司公佈了8.0%的可觀增長。在最近三年中,總收入也大幅增長了154%,這在一定程度上得益於其短期表現。因此,股東們肯定會對這些中期收入增長率表示歡迎。
展望來看,未來三年的回報應該會減少,根據關注該公司的七位分析師的估計,收入每年下降2.2%。當該行業的其他部門預計每年增長12%時,這並不好。
考慮到這一點,我們發現知乎的市銷率與業內同行非常接近,這很有意思。但是,尚不能保證市銷率已達到最低水平,收入反向增長。如果公司不改善營收增長,市銷率有可能降至更低的水平。
知乎市銷率的底線
知乎最近疲軟的股價使其市銷率回落至其他互動媒體和服務公司的下方。通常,在做出投資決策時,我們謹慎行事,不要過多地考慮市售比率,儘管這可以揭示其他市場參與者對公司的看法。
正如我們所懷疑的那樣,我們對知乎分析師預測的審查顯示,知乎收入萎縮的前景是其低市銷率的原因。目前,股東們正在接受低市銷率,因爲他們承認未來的收入可能不會帶來任何驚喜。在這種情況下,很難看到股價在不久的將來強勁上漲。
你需要時刻注意風險,例如——知乎有1個我們認爲你應該注意的警告信號。
重要的是要確保你尋找一家優秀的公司,而不僅僅是你遇到的第一個想法。因此,如果盈利能力的增長與你對一家優秀公司的想法一致,那就來看看這份免費名單吧,列出了最近收益增長強勁(市盈率低)的有趣公司。