Adtiger Corporations Limited (HKG:1163) Shares Fly 25% But Investors Aren't Buying For Growth

Adtiger Corporations Limited (HKG:1163) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 25% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 23% over that time.

Even after such a large jump in price, considering around half the companies operating in Hong Kong's Media industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 0.9x, you may still consider Adtiger Corporations as an solid investment opportunity with its 0.3x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

Check out our latest analysis for Adtiger Corporations

What Does Adtiger Corporations' P/S Mean For Shareholders?

For example, consider that Adtiger Corporations' financial performance has been poor lately as its revenue has been in decline. It might be that many expect the disappointing revenue performance to continue or accelerate, which has repressed the P/S. However, if this doesn't eventuate then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as low as Adtiger Corporations' is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry.

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 23%. That put a dampener on the good run it was having over the longer-term as its three-year revenue growth is still a noteworthy 11% in total. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a good job of growing revenue over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 9.0% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we can see why Adtiger Corporations is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the wider industry.

The Bottom Line On Adtiger Corporations' P/S

The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift Adtiger Corporations' P/S close to the industry median. 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 Adtiger Corporations revealed its three-year revenue trends are contributing to its low P/S, given they look worse than current industry expectations. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it's hard to see the share price experience a reversal of fortunes anytime soon.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 2 warning signs for Adtiger Corporations (1 is potentially serious!) that you need to be mindful of.

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.