Trinity Biotech plc (NASDAQ:TRIB) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 54% after a shaky period beforehand. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 55%.

Although its price has surged higher, Trinity Biotech may still be sending very bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.5x, since almost half of all companies in the Medical Equipment industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 3x and even P/S higher than 9x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/S.

How Trinity Biotech Has Been Performing

For example, consider that Trinity Biotech's 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.

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 Trinity Biotech's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Is Trinity Biotech's Revenue Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Trinity Biotech would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 16% decrease to the company's top line. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk revenue by 37% in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 48% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term revenue decline into perspective.

With this information, we are not surprised that Trinity Biotech is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. 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.

What Does Trinity Biotech's P/S Mean For Investors?

Shares in Trinity Biotech have risen appreciably however, its P/S is still subdued. 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 Trinity Biotech revealed its shrinking revenue over the medium-term is contributing to its low P/S, given the industry is set to grow. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises either. Given the current circumstances, it seems unlikely that the share price will experience any significant movement in either direction in the near future if recent medium-term revenue trends persist.

If you're unsure about the strength of Trinity Biotech's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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.