An EV/Sales screener ranks companies by enterprise value divided by trailing revenue, which lets you compare businesses whose earnings are negative or distorted. In Excel with MarketXLS, one formula per row does it: =EnterpriseValue("NVDA")/Revenue("NVDA"). This post's free ten-sheet workbook applies that to 30 large caps (as of May 2026), sorts them into bands from deep value (below 2x) to premium (above 8x), and shows revenue growth, gross margin, and operating margin beside each multiple, because a low EV/Sales with weak margins is not necessarily cheap.
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EV/Sales is a workhorse multiple. It looks past capital structure, ignores the timing games that creep into EBITDA, and survives intact when a company is reinvesting too hard to show GAAP earnings. For software, semis, biotech, and most of the AI cohort, it is often the only ratio that produces a comparable number across peers. The catch is that EV/Sales without context is almost meaningless. A 0.6x business with negative gross margins is not cheap, and a 14x business growing at 60 percent with 80 percent gross margins is not obviously expensive. This dashboard is built around that nuance.
EV/Sales screener Excel - the headline picture for May 2026
The 30 large caps loaded into the dashboard span the full valuation curve from sub-1x deep value (banks, oil majors) through 3-6x mainline industrials and consumer staples, into the 10x-plus growth premium band (software platforms, top-tier semis, and a few hyperscale-adjacent names). Here is the cross-section the dashboard surfaces when you open the workbook:
| Band | Approx. EV/Sales Range | Representative Names | What It Usually Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deep Value | Below 2.0x | XOM, JPM, UNH, WMT | Mature, cyclical, or thin-margin businesses. Pricing power on the ratio is limited. |
| Value | 2.0x to 4.0x | CAT, GE, COST, HD | Established compounders with single-digit growth and stable margins. |
| Mid | 4.0x to 8.0x | AAPL, ORCL, MSFT, META | Quality balance of growth, margin and reinvestment. |
| Growth Premium | 8.0x to 14.0x | ADBE, ISRG, NFLX | Software-style economics or category dominance. |
| AI / Hyper Growth | Above 14.0x | NVDA, NOW, SNOW | Either AI infrastructure premium or hyper-growth software. |
The bands are deliberately sized to match where the May 2026 market is actually trading. The dashboard recomputes EV/Sales cell-by-cell, applies a 3-color heatmap, and tags each name with a deterministic rating based on two thresholds you set on the Inputs sheet.
Why EV/Sales deserves a permanent slot in your screen stack
Three reasons. First, it is robust to negative earnings. Snowflake, Uber for most of its history, and any biotech with breakthrough therapy designation will not pass a PE screen, but they all generate revenue and can be ranked against each other. Second, it is robust to leverage. Enterprise Value adds back debt and subtracts cash, so a recapitalised utility and a debt-free SaaS company can be compared on the same line without normalising. Third, it is the multiple that contracts first in a growth-stock drawdown. When the macro narrative changes, sentiment moves through EV/Sales before it moves through earnings estimates, which makes the multiple useful as a tape-reading instrument as much as a valuation instrument.
The blind spot is well known. EV/Sales has no view on margin structure. A 0.5x EV/Sales gym chain with permanently negative gross margins is cheaper-looking than a 12x EV/Sales software platform with 85 percent gross margins, but the software business is by any reasonable measure the better business. This dashboard handles that by surfacing Gross Margin and Operating Margin alongside the multiple. The "Cheap Grower" tag only fires when EV/Sales is below the cheap threshold AND revenue growth is above the growth qualifier, which keeps the screen honest.
Market analysis - what the May 2026 tape is showing
Three things stand out when you ingest 30 names into the workbook this week.
1. The AI multiple has stopped expanding. Nvidia, Broadcom, and the front-line AI infrastructure names all still trade at EV/Sales well above 15x, but the rate of multiple expansion has flattened since the start of Q2. Revenue is now growing fast enough to absorb new dollars at the existing multiple instead of pushing it higher. This is not bearish for AI - it is the natural pattern when fundamentals catch up to narrative. The dashboard shows it cleanly: median EV/Sales for AI-adjacent semis is above 15x, but the YoY growth column on those same rows is north of 50 percent.
2. Quality-at-a-fair-price is the sweet spot. Names like Apple, Microsoft, Costco, and JPMorgan trade in the mid band (3x to 10x EV/Sales) with revenue growth in the 5 to 15 percent range and operating margins above 20 percent. They will not double on multiple expansion, but they offer the cleanest compounding profile in the workbook. The Scenario Analysis sheet shows that even a 30 percent rerate on these names produces a tolerable drawdown when growth holds.
3. Cyclicals are not as cheap as they look on PE. Caterpillar's PE is in the mid-teens, but on EV/Sales it is around 3x with revenue contracting modestly. That is a different story than PE alone tells. EV/Sales captures the operating leverage problem that PE multiples mask in late-cycle industrial names.
The approach - how to use a revenue-multiple screener
The educational framework for an EV/Sales screen is straightforward. Treat it as a sorting tool, not a buy list. Pair it with at least one growth qualifier and one quality qualifier. Then map the result onto your portfolio constraints.
Step 1 - Set thresholds. A cheap threshold of 2.0x and an expensive threshold of 8.0x are reasonable defaults for a broad large-cap universe in May 2026. Inside narrower universes you would tighten them. Inside a pure-software universe, 6x is cheap and 18x is expensive. Inside a pure-energy universe, 1x is the mid band. The Inputs sheet lets you change both with a single keystroke.
Step 2 - Pair with growth. A name is interesting if it sits below the cheap threshold AND grows revenue faster than your growth qualifier. The default qualifier in the workbook is 10 percent. Drop that to 5 percent in a recession; raise it to 20 percent in a roaring tape.
Step 3 - Stress test the multiple. The Scenario Analysis sheet applies five symmetric re-rates to each name's EV/Sales: -30, -10, flat, +10, +30. Use the -30 column to see how much room each name has to compress before you start losing money. Use the +30 column to see what a benign re-rate would mean for the position.
Step 4 - Size by sector. EV/Sales bands are not the same across sectors. A 4x sector median in software is cheap, but a 4x sector median in banks is rich. The Sector Comparison sheet shows the median, min, max and YoY growth for each sector cohort, so you can spot where your screener results sit inside their own neighbourhood.
This is an analytical framework, not investment advice. Every number in the workbook is educational. Always cross-check with primary documents and a licensed advisor before any allocation decision.
MarketXLS implementation - the formulas behind the dashboard
The whole template is wired in three MarketXLS functions plus a handful of supporting ones. The headline ratio is:
=EnterpriseValue("NVDA")/Revenue("NVDA")
Formula documentation: EnterpriseValue
That single cell, repeated across 30 rows, produces the screener's primary column. Both inputs are MarketXLS native functions:
=EnterpriseValue("NVDA") → Market cap plus net debt, in dollars
=Revenue("NVDA") → Trailing twelve month revenue, in dollars
Formula documentation: EnterpriseValue, Revenue
Supporting columns use:
=Name("NVDA") → Issuer name
=Sector("NVDA") → GICS sector classification
=Last("NVDA") → Latest share price
=MarketCapitalization("NVDA") → Equity value
=RevenueGrowth("NVDA") → YoY revenue growth rate
=GrossMargin("NVDA") → TTM gross margin
=OperatingMargin("NVDA") → TTM operating margin
=Beta("NVDA") → Beta vs the broader market
=DividendYield("NVDA") → Dividend yield TTM
Formula documentation: Name, Sector, Last, MarketCapitalization, RevenueGrowth, GrossMargin, OperatingMargin, Beta, DividendYield
These are Windows desktop function names; in the Microsoft 365 add-in (Excel for Mac and the web), add the mxls. prefix, for example =mxls.Revenue("NVDA"). The dashboard's "Rating" column is a deterministic IF statement that pulls thresholds from the Inputs sheet so changing your cheap/expensive cutoff updates every row instantly:
=IF(AND(I13<Inputs!$C$5,J13>Inputs!$C$8),"Cheap Grower",
IF(I13>Inputs!$C$6,"Premium",
IF(I13<Inputs!$C$5,"Value","Hold")))
That is the entire scoring logic. No black boxes, no opinion. Read it, edit it, swap thresholds. The MarketXLS documentation lists every function used here, and the formula list inside each sheet of the template is the same reference but printed at the bottom of the sheet where you can see it next to the data it produces.
What's inside the template - sheet-by-sheet walkthrough
The dashboard ships with ten sheets. Every sheet has a tab color, frozen panes, and a footer with the MarketXLS link. The Cover and Dashboard sheets have gridlines hidden so they render as a presentation surface, not a grid.
01 Cover. Branded cover page with the title in 36-point bold, a subtitle line for the edition, version number, a "Data as of" stamp, and a 10-row table of contents. Print-ready landscape.
02 How To Use. Seven-step tutorial. Each step has a bold title and a one-paragraph explanation. Covers opening the dashboard, setting inputs, reading the screener, running the scenario engine, sizing positions, and reading the sector cross-section.
03 Dashboard. The headline sheet. Six KPI tiles across the top show median EV/Sales, the percent of the cohort above 5x, the percent below 2x, median revenue growth, the top revenue grower, and the cheapest name. Two embedded charts: the 10-cheapest bar chart and a revenue-growth column chart for those same 10. Below the charts is the 30-name screener table with a 3-color heatmap on EV/Sales, a reverse heatmap on Revenue Growth, data bars on Gross Margin, and a heatmap on Operating Margin. The Rating column uses thresholds from the Inputs sheet.
04 Inputs / Controls. Twelve yellow-highlighted input cells with bold navy borders. Cheap threshold (default 2.0x), expensive threshold (default 8.0x), rerate scenario percentage, growth qualifier, portfolio size, max single-name weight, number of positions, scenario name (Conservative / Base / Aggressive dropdown), risk tier (Low / Moderate / High dropdown), and three custom watchlist ticker slots with dropdown validation against the full 30-name universe.
05 Scenario Analysis. Each of the 30 names appears with its current EV/Sales and five re-rate columns: -30 percent, -10 percent, flat, +10 percent, +30 percent. A 3-color heatmap across each rerate column shows where the largest movers sit. A "Direction" column flags whether the name passes the growth qualifier and reads "Long" or "Hedge" accordingly.
06 Strategy and Position Sizing. A 20-row table with entry, stop, target one, target two and a computed risk-reward ratio for each name. Targets are anchored to the latest price multiplied by simple constants you can change. Notes column flags Cheap Grower, Premium, or Watchlist.
07 Portfolio Allocation. Equal-weight sizer across the top names, capped by the max-weight input from the Inputs sheet. Shows last price, weight, dollar allocation, share count, dividend yield, and projected income. A donut-style pie chart visualises allocation by sector. Total row at the bottom sums dollar allocation and projected income.
08 Sector Comparison. Sector-by-sector aggregation. For each sector cohort the sheet computes the median EV/Sales, min, max, median revenue growth, median gross margin, a normalised z-score versus the universe median, a band label (Deep Value / Value / Mid / Premium), and a notes column. A bar chart on the right shows median EV/Sales by sector at a glance.
09 Methodology. Six-section explainer. What the dashboard measures, how EV/Sales is computed, how the screener is ranked, how the scenario engine works, data sources and refresh behavior, and the limitations of the multiple. Lifts the value of the workbook from "a screener" to "a screener you can defend to a client".
10 Glossary and Disclaimer. Twelve-row glossary covering EV/Sales, Enterprise Value, Revenue TTM, Revenue Growth YoY, Gross Margin, Operating Margin, Beta, Cheap Grower, Premium, Re-Rate, Sector Median, and Z-Score. Followed by a paragraph-length educational-only disclaimer.
Every sheet has the same footer line - "Powered by MarketXLS, marketxls.com, Book a demo" - and a "MarketXLS Functions Used in This Sheet" block at the bottom that lists the exact formulas appearing on that sheet with one-line descriptions.
How to read the screener output
Three patterns are worth watching for when you open the workbook.
Pattern A - Cheap Grower at the top of the table. A name ranked in the top quintile by EV/Sales that also clears the growth qualifier is the workbook's headline output. These are the cases where the multiple looks low AND fundamentals are still moving in the right direction. They are not automatic buys. They are the names that earn the analyst time to read the 10-K.
Pattern B - Premium tag with growth above 25 percent. A name with EV/Sales above the expensive threshold and revenue growth above 25 percent is doing what growth premia are supposed to do: justify themselves with operating performance. Cross-check the Scenario Analysis sheet to see how much room there is below if growth softens.
Pattern C - Value tag with declining revenue. A name below the cheap threshold whose YoY growth is negative is the classic value trap signature. The screener does not filter these out automatically because sometimes they are the right answer (deep cyclicals at a trough). But the workbook tags them as "Value" not "Cheap Grower", and the analyst's job is to decide which side of that fence the name is on.
Download the templates
Download the templates:
- - Pre-filled with May 2026 figures. Every data cell carries a comment showing the MarketXLS formula that would produce it.
- - Live MarketXLS formulas. Open in Excel with MarketXLS installed and every cell refreshes against current data.
Both files share the same ten-sheet dashboard structure, the same KPI tiles, the same scenario engine, and the same sector comparison. The Sample version is the read-only walkthrough. The Template version is the working tool.
Comparing EV/Sales to the other valuation multiples
A common question - "If I already use EV/EBITDA, why do I need EV/Sales?" - deserves a direct answer.
| Multiple | Best For | Breaks Down When |
|---|---|---|
| PE | Mature, profitable, stable margins | EPS is negative, volatile, or distorted by one-time charges |
| EV/EBITDA | Capital-intensive, levered, or M&A targets | EBITDA is small, negative, or not a useful proxy for cash generation |
| EV/Sales | Growth companies, loss-makers, early-stage profitability | Margins differ materially across peers (must pair with a margin check) |
| Price/Book | Banks, insurance, asset-heavy financials | Intangibles dominate the balance sheet |
| Free Cash Flow Yield | Cash-generative compounders | FCF is reinvested aggressively or distorted by working capital swings |
EV/Sales fills the gap on the third row. It is the multiple you reach for when EBITDA and EPS are not informative yet but the business is generating real revenue. For the AI cohort, software platform companies, and most of the SaaS universe, that gap is wide enough that EV/Sales is the primary multiple, not a secondary one.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good EV/Sales ratio? There is no single number. EV/Sales is a relative metric and the right answer depends on growth, margin structure, and sector. As a rough starting frame: below 1x for mature low-growth businesses, 1x to 4x for cyclicals and industrials, 4x to 10x for quality compounders, above 10x for growth software and AI infrastructure. The dashboard ships with default thresholds of 2.0x (cheap) and 8.0x (expensive) which split a broad large-cap universe sensibly.
How is EV/Sales calculated in Excel using MarketXLS?
The formula is =EnterpriseValue("TICKER")/Revenue("TICKER"). Both inputs are native MarketXLS functions. EnterpriseValue returns market cap plus debt minus cash. Revenue returns trailing twelve month revenue. The ratio inherits the units of the inputs (both dollars), so the output is a unitless multiple expressed as "x".
What is the difference between EV/Sales and Price/Sales?
Price/Sales uses market cap only as the numerator. EV/Sales adds debt and subtracts cash. The two diverge sharply for companies with material net debt (low growth, high leverage) or material net cash (some software platforms, some big tech). EV/Sales is the more apples-to-apples comparison across capital structures. The dashboard uses EV/Sales but you can compute Price/Sales separately using =PriceToSales("TICKER") if you want both side by side.
Can I edit the cheap and expensive thresholds? Yes. Open the Inputs sheet (Tab 04). The two threshold cells are highlighted yellow with a navy border. Change them and every row on the Dashboard's Rating column updates immediately. The same is true for the growth qualifier and the rerate percentage used by the Scenario Analysis sheet.
Does the template work if I do not have MarketXLS installed? The Sample file works fine without MarketXLS - all data is static. The Template file needs MarketXLS installed in Excel for the formulas to evaluate. Without MarketXLS, the formulas will show #NAME? errors but the layout, charts, conditional formatting and structure are all preserved. Install MarketXLS and the workbook lights up.
Can I add my own tickers to the screener? Yes, but it requires two edits. First, paste your ticker into a free row on the Dashboard sheet. Second, copy the formulas from a neighbouring row's columns C through M into the new row, replacing the ticker symbol in each formula. The Inputs sheet also has three "custom watchlist" cells with a dropdown of the existing 30 names; for fully custom tickers you edit the Dashboard rows directly.
How often does the data refresh? By default, MarketXLS refreshes on workbook open. You can force a refresh manually from the MarketXLS ribbon by clicking Refresh All. The Sample file does not refresh because all values are static.
The bottom line
EV/Sales is the multiple that does the most work when earnings are negative, lumpy, or distorted. It is also the multiple that has the most blind spots if you read it in isolation. The dashboard in this post pairs the headline ratio with revenue growth, gross margin, operating margin, beta, and a sector cross-section, so the picture you walk away with is three-dimensional instead of one-dimensional.
If you advise on portfolios, hand the file to your client and walk them through Tab 03. If you self-direct, set your thresholds on Tab 04 and let the screener rerank itself around your conviction. Either way, the template is built to be presentation-ready out of the box - branded cover, KPI tiles, charts, heatmaps, scenario engine, methodology notes, and a glossary that earns the workbook a permanent seat in your screen stack.
Learn more about how MarketXLS powers professional-grade Excel dashboards at marketxls.com, or book a live demo to see the full library of templates, screeners, and live data functions.
