The AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AMC) share price has fared very poorly over the last month, falling by a substantial 28%. For any long-term shareholders, the last month ends a year to forget by locking in a 54% share price decline.

Since its price has dipped substantially, AMC Entertainment Holdings may be sending buy signals at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.2x, considering almost half of all companies in the Entertainment industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 1.3x and even P/S higher than 6x 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.

What Does AMC Entertainment Holdings' P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Recent revenue growth for AMC Entertainment Holdings has been in line with the industry. One possibility is that the P/S ratio is low because investors think this modest revenue performance may begin to slide. If not, then existing shareholders have reason to be optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

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

What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/S?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, AMC Entertainment Holdings would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 9.7%. The latest three year period has also seen a 19% overall rise in revenue, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably been satisfied with the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 8.0% as estimated by the seven analysts watching the company. With the industry predicted to deliver 23% growth, the company is positioned for a weaker revenue result.

With this information, we can see why AMC Entertainment Holdings is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.

What We Can Learn From AMC Entertainment Holdings' P/S?

AMC Entertainment Holdings' recently weak share price has pulled its P/S back below other Entertainment 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 expected, our analysis of AMC Entertainment Holdings' analyst forecasts confirms that the company's underwhelming revenue outlook is a major contributor to its low P/S. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

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.

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.