Those holding Al Obeikan Glass Company (TADAWUL:4145) shares would be relieved that the share price has rebounded 30% in the last thirty days, but it needs to keep going to repair the recent damage it has caused to investor portfolios. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 28% over that time.

Since its price has surged higher, you could be forgiven for thinking Al Obeikan Glass is a stock not worth researching with a price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") of 3.4x, considering almost half the companies in Saudi Arabia's Building industry have P/S ratios below 2.2x. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's as high as it is.

How Al Obeikan Glass Has Been Performing

For example, consider that Al Obeikan Glass' financial performance has been poor lately as its revenue has been in decline. It might be that many expect the company to still outplay most other companies over the coming period, which has kept the P/S from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Al Obeikan Glass' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Is There Enough Revenue Growth Forecasted For Al Obeikan Glass?

Al Obeikan Glass' P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than 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 3.1%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk revenue by 36% in aggregate. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing revenue over that time.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 9.2% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this information, we find it concerning that Al Obeikan Glass is trading at a P/S higher than the industry. It seems most investors are ignoring the recent poor growth rate and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. There's a very good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/S falls to levels more in line with the recent negative growth rates.

The Key Takeaway

Al Obeikan Glass shares have taken a big step in a northerly direction, but its P/S is elevated as a result. 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.

We've established that Al Obeikan Glass currently trades on a much higher than expected P/S since its recent revenues have been in decline over the medium-term. Right now we aren't comfortable with the high P/S as this revenue performance is highly unlikely to support such positive sentiment for long. Unless the the circumstances surrounding the recent medium-term improve, it wouldn't be wrong to expect a a difficult period ahead for the company's shareholders.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Al Obeikan Glass (at least 2 which are concerning), and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Al Obeikan Glass, 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.