Aksh Optifibre Limited (NSE:AKSHOPTFBR) shares have had a horrible month, losing 28% after a relatively good period beforehand. The last month has meant the stock is now only up 4.6% during the last year.
After such a large drop in price, Aksh Optifibre may look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.6x, considering almost half of all companies in the Communications industry in India have P/S ratios greater than 3.3x and even P/S higher than 7x aren't out of the ordinary. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited. Sonet Cable
View our latest analysis for Aksh Optifibre
For instance, Aksh Optifibre's receding revenue in recent times would have to be some food for thought. 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.
In order to justify its P/S ratio, Aksh Optifibre would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the industry.
Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 15% decrease to the company's top line. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 8.1% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.
Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 48% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a sobering picture.
With this in mind, we understand why Aksh Optifibre's P/S is lower than most of its industry peers. However, we think shrinking revenues are unlikely to lead to a stable P/S over the longer term, which could set up shareholders for future disappointment. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent revenue trends are already weighing down the shares.
Having almost fallen off a cliff, Aksh Optifibre's share price has pulled its P/S way down as well. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.
Our examination of Aksh Optifibre confirms that the company's shrinking revenue over the past medium-term is a key factor in its low price-to-sales ratio, given the industry is projected to grow. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises either. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.
Having said that, be aware Aksh Optifibre is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, you should know about.
If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Aksh Optifibre, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.
Find out whether Aksh Optifibre is potentially over or undervalued by checking out our comprehensive analysis, which includes fair value estimates, risks and warnings, dividends, insider transactions and financial health.
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Designs, manufactures, and sells optical fiber cables in India.
Good value with mediocre balance sheet.
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