Let's say a company currently is at EV/Rev=8x, EV/EBITDA=12x. Next year, its multiples are EV/Rev=6x, EV/EBITDA =12x (remained constant). Is this company growing?
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I would say it doesn't have to increase, but many factors contribute to the calculation of EBITDA, and with all those factors changing, the company may still not be growing - ex. although revenue has grown, depreciation may be lower (can offset rev increase from ebitda), or operating expenses could be higher (offsets rev growth as well), keeping EBITDA the same and EV
Your question of growth is too arbitrary. Just because a company has increased sales YoY doesn't mean they're growing, or just because a company doesn't increase EBITDA YoY doesn't mean the company is lagging.
I guess i meant is the value of the company growing i.e. its EV?
EV = Market Cap + Debt - Cash, so sales/ebitda growth would tell you very little about the EV versus just taking a look at the balance sheet.
Since EV/Sales has decreased, the contingency for a growth case is that sales increased relative to other factors held constant.
Without other information, this does not necessarily have to be the case. For example, sales may have decreased, but EV may have decreased more in proportion, which would still have the effect of lowering EV/Sales. This is just how fractions work.
Can't tell if its growing or not. Example Year 1: EV 600 mil, Rev 87.5, Ebitda 50. Year 2: EV 600 mil, Rev 100 mil, Ebitda still 50. While the revenue did grow, we'll assume operating expenses or COGS also grew, keeping Ebitda constant. Also, EV=equity + debt - cash + minority interest + preferred so any number of these things can change in order to change the EV. Equity value can fluctuate a ton, so even though revenue may be growing share price may be decreasing (look at Tesla)
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