Software company Sumo Logic is standing out today, surging to $8.91 and marking a 3.6% change. In comparison the S&P 500 moved only -0.6%. SUMO is -20.52% below its average analyst target price of $11.21, which implies there is more upside for the stock. As such, the average analyst rates it at buy. Over the last year, Sumo Logic has underperfomed the S&P 500 by 26.6%, moving -41.3%.
Sumo Logic, Inc. provides cloud-native software-as-a-service platform that enables organizations to address the challenges and opportunities presented by digital transformation, modern applications, and cloud computing worldwide. The company is part of the technology sector, whose combine explosive growth potential with high valuations and high volatility. Investors are often willing to overlook the risks and inflated valuations of the sector because of this promise of future growth potential.
Sumo Logic does not publish either its forward or trailing P/E ratios because their values are negative -- meaning that each share of stock represents a net earnings loss. But we can calculate these P/E ratios anyways using the stocks forward and trailing (Eps) values of $-0.32 and $-1.18. We can see that SUMO has a forward P/E ratio of -27.8 and a trailing P/E ratio of -7.6.
The P/E ratio is the company's share price divided by its earnings per share. In other words, it represents how much investors are willing to spend for each dollar of the company's earnings (revenues minus the cost of goods sold, taxes, and overhead). As of the third quarter of 2022, the technology sector has an average P/E ratio of 26.5, and the average for the S&P 500 is 15.97.
To better understand the strength of Sumo Logic's business, we can analyse its operating margins, which are its revenues minus its operating costs. Consistently strong margins backed by a positive trend can signal that a company is on track to deliver returns for its shareholders. Here's the operating margin statistics for the last four years:
| Date Reported | Total Revenue ($) | Operating Expenses ($) | Operating Margins (%) | YoY Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-01-31 | 242,125,000 | 356,859,000 | -47.39 | -23.67 |
| 2021-01-31 | 202,637,000 | 280,296,000 | -38.32 | 29.1 |
| 2020-01-31 | 155,056,000 | 238,862,000 | -54.05 | -16.29 |
| 2019-01-31 | 103,642,000 | 151,815,000 | -46.48 | n/a |
- Average operating margins: -46.6 %
- Average operating margins growth rate: -3.6 %
- Coefficient of variability (lower numbers indicate less volatility): 13.8 %
Sumo Logic's financial viability can also be assessed through a review of its free cash flow trends. Free cash flow refers to the company's operating cash flows minus its capital expenditures, which are expenses related to the maintenance of fixed assets such as land, infrastructure, and equipment. Over the last four years, the trends have been as follows:
| Date Reported | Cash Flow from Operations ($) | Capital expenditures ($) | Free Cash Flow ($) | YoY Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-01-31 | -30,491,000 | -2,258,000 | -32,749,000 | 32.22 |
| 2021-01-31 | -47,179,000 | -1,138,000 | -48,317,000 | 4.58 |
| 2020-01-31 | -48,569,000 | -2,068,000 | -50,637,000 | -124.12 |
| 2019-01-31 | -22,127,000 | -467,000 | -22,594,000 | n/a |
- Average free cash flow: $-38,574,250.00
- Average free cash flown growth rate: -29.1 %
- Coefficient of variability (lower numbers indicating more stability): 34.4 %
If it weren't negative, the free cash flow would represent the amount of money available for reinvestment in the business, or for payments to equity investors in the form of a dividend. While a negative cash flow for one or two quarters is not a sign of financial troubles for SUMO, a long term trend of negative or highly erratic cash flow levels may indicate a struggling business or a mismanaged company.
Value investors often analyze stocks through the lens of its Price to Book (P/B) Ratio (market value divided by book value). The book value refers to the present value of the company if the company were to sell off all of its assets and pay all of its debts today - a number whose value may differ significantly depending on the accounting method.
Sumo Logic has a P/B ratio of 2.8. This indicates that the market value of the company exceeds its book value by a factor of more than 2, but is still below the average P/B ratio of the Technology sector, which stood at 5.57 as of the third quarter of 2022.
With a negative P/E ratio, a lower P/B ratio than the sector average, and a regular stream of negative cash flows with a downwards trend, we can conclude that Sumo Logic is probably overvalued at current prices. The stock presents poor growth indicators because of its consistently poor operating margins with a negative growth rate, and no published PEG ratio.
