Yahoo Finance Fulgent Genetics (NASDAQ:FLGT) shareholders are still up 654% over 5 years despite pulling back 7.1% in the past week
Buying shares in the best businesses can build meaningful wealth for you and your family. And we've seen some truly amazing gains over the years. To wit, the Fulgent Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLGT) share price has soared 654% over five years. If that doesn't get you thinking about long term investing, we don't know what will. Unfortunately, though, the stock has dropped 7.1% over a week. But note that the broader market is down 0.3% since last week, and this may have impacted Fulgent Genetics' share price. Anyone who held for that rewarding ride would probably be keen to talk about it.
Although Fulgent Genetics has shed US$68m from its market cap this week, let's take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they've driven returns.
See our latest analysis for Fulgent Genetics
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.
During the last half decade, Fulgent Genetics became profitable. Sometimes, the start of profitability is a major inflection point that can signal fast earnings growth to come, which in turn justifies very strong share price gains.
The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
It is of course excellent to see how Fulgent Genetics has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.
A Different Perspective
We regret to report that Fulgent Genetics shareholders are down 52% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 13%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 50%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Even so, be aware that Fulgent Genetics is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is a bit concerning...
If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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