Trailing sales

Trailing sales

Past sales. Often used in the valuation of companies that have negative cash flows or earnings. The company is said to be valued at some multiple of past sales - usually, the last 12 months sales.

Trailing Sales

A company's revenue from sales over a period of time in the past. Often, a company will use trailing sales over the past 12 months to help forecast its expected sales over the coming 12 months. Trailing sales are useful because they can be known with certainty; however, their predictive value is often limited because of forces outside the company's control.