Has anyone ever made money buying something at >35x P/S?

Other than MSFT where with the lost decade post-dot-com it took a decade to get back to par, are these ever good investments? I'm on the newer side and so don't have all the historical precedent. I can think of a lot that didn't work - if you bought SNOW at 125x you were crushed, if you bought GoodRx at ~50x you were crushed, but are there any examples where this isn't the case? 

14 Comments
 

Yeah dude, Tesla lol

"If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

Pretty much never works long term. Even elite companies like Shopify or Nvidia only justified high multiples after massive revenue growth. Buying above 35x P/S usually means all future upside is already priced in.

 

Yikes, good catch. I thought it was P/E. 

I was in VC so we did plenty of 35x sales but on the public side it's purely a question of how long public markets will remain irrational. 

 

Whenever someone asks “has anyone ever” the answer is generally yes. It’s a big world out there, don’t be so lacking in imagination

Easier to see this if you focus on the denominator - 35x $1mm is just $35mm. So any minimal revenue company that makes it. , e.g., in biotech where 100x some minimal amount of grant revenue while in clinical development is common

Also plenty that just grew into their valuation and beyond. Amazon was >50x during internet bubble.

 

Dignissimos voluptatibus quae aliquid ipsam. Labore aspernatur quis laudantium quo architecto eius aut. Officia at non accusantium labore quidem enim.

Eius officiis quod fugit cumque accusamus aliquam impedit. Aut neque consequuntur maiores recusandae vel earum possimus. Pariatur laboriosam distinctio maiores ad voluptas voluptatibus. Dolorem aut nisi enim velit iure nisi voluptates.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • AQR Capital Management 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.0%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Two Sigma Investments 94.9%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $355
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (83) $287
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (76) $193
  • Analysts (235) $177
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (276) $95
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”