MeiraGTx Holdings plc (NASDAQ:MGTX) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 25% share price drop in the last month. To make matters worse, the recent drop has wiped out a year's worth of gains with the share price now back where it started a year ago.

In spite of the heavy fall in price, MeiraGTx Holdings' price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 11.9x might still make it look like a strong sell right now compared to other companies in the Biotechs industry in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios below 7.9x and even P/S below 2x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/S.

What Does MeiraGTx Holdings' P/S Mean For Shareholders?

MeiraGTx Holdings could be doing better as it's been growing revenue less than most other companies lately. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to undergo a reversal of fortunes, which has elevated the P/S ratio. However, if this isn't the case, investors might get caught out paying too much for the stock.

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

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The High P/S Ratio?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, MeiraGTx Holdings would need to produce outstanding growth that's well in excess of the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 203%. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen the company endure a nasty 11% drop in revenue in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 73% each year as estimated by the three analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 161% per year growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this information, we find it concerning that MeiraGTx Holdings is trading at a P/S higher than the industry. It seems most investors are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects, but the analyst cohort is not so confident this will happen. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as this level of revenue growth is likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.

What We Can Learn From MeiraGTx Holdings' P/S?

Even after such a strong price drop, MeiraGTx Holdings' P/S still exceeds the industry median significantly. 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.

Despite analysts forecasting some poorer-than-industry revenue growth figures for MeiraGTx Holdings, this doesn't appear to be impacting the P/S in the slightest. When we see a weak revenue outlook, we suspect the share price faces a much greater risk of declining, bringing back down the P/S figures. Unless these conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on MeiraGTx Holdings, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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.