To the annoyance of some shareholders, VCI Global Limited (NASDAQ:VCIG) shares are down a considerable 48% in the last month, which continues a horrid run for the company. For any long-term shareholders, the last month ends a year to forget by locking in a 100% share price decline.
After such a large drop in price, VCI Global may be sending buy signals at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.1x, considering almost half of all companies in the Professional Services industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 1.2x and even P/S higher than 4x 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 reduced P/S.
See our latest analysis for VCI Global
Revenue has risen firmly for VCI Global recently, which is pleasing to see. It might be that many expect the respectable revenue performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/S. If you 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.
Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on VCI Global will help you shine a light on its historical performance.VCI Global'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 terrific increase of 25%. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 180% overall rise in revenue, aided by its short-term performance. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.
Comparing that recent medium-term revenue trajectory with the industry's one-year growth forecast of 6.2% shows it's noticeably more attractive.
With this in mind, we find it intriguing that VCI Global's P/S isn't as high compared to that of its industry peers. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.
VCI Global's recently weak share price has pulled its P/S back below other Professional Services companies. It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.
We're very surprised to see VCI Global currently trading on a much lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. Potential investors that are sceptical over continued revenue performance may be preventing the P/S ratio from matching previous strong performance. It appears many are indeed anticipating revenue instability, because the persistence of these recent medium-term conditions would normally provide a boost to the share price.
There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 4 warning signs for VCI Global (3 are significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.
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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.