The Anika Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANIK) share price has fared very poorly over the last month, falling by a substantial 32%. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 19% in that time.

Since its price has dipped substantially, Anika Therapeutics may look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.5x, 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 72x aren't out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/S.

How Anika Therapeutics Has Been Performing

Recent times haven't been great for Anika Therapeutics as its revenue has been rising slower than most other companies. 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.

Keen to find out how analysts think Anika Therapeutics' future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

Anika Therapeutics' 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.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered virtually the same number to the company's top line as the year before. Still, the latest three year period was better as it's delivered a decent 13% overall rise in revenue. Therefore, it's fair to say that revenue growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the two analysts covering the company suggest revenue growth is heading into negative territory, declining 10% over the next year. Meanwhile, the broader industry is forecast to expand by 108%, which paints a poor picture.

With this information, we are not surprised that Anika Therapeutics is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. 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 Key Takeaway

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

With revenue forecasts that are inferior to the rest of the industry, it's no surprise that Anika Therapeutics' P/S is on the lower end of the spectrum. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless there's material change, it's hard to envision a situation where the stock price will rise drastically.

The company's balance sheet is another key area for risk analysis. You can assess many of the main risks through our free balance sheet analysis for Anika Therapeutics with six simple checks.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Anika 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.