Yahoo Finance Further weakness as Flight Centre Travel Group (ASX:FLT) drops 6.5% this week, taking three-year losses to 45%
For many investors, the main point of stock picking is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But if you try your hand at stock picking, your risk returning less than the market. Unfortunately, that's been the case for longer term Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (ASX:FLT) shareholders, since the share price is down 51% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return of around 29%.
After losing 6.5% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.
View our latest analysis for Flight Centre Travel Group
Given that Flight Centre Travel Group didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.
In the last three years Flight Centre Travel Group saw its revenue shrink by 65% per year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. Arguably, the market has responded appropriately to this business performance by sending the share price down 15% (annualized) in the same time period. Bagholders or 'baggies' are people who buy more of a stock as the price collapses. They are then left 'holding the bag' if the shares turn out to be worthless. It could be a while before the company repays long suffering shareholders with share price gains.
The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. If you are thinking of buying or selling Flight Centre Travel Group stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.
What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?
Investors should note that there's a difference between Flight Centre Travel Group's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price change, which we've covered above. Arguably the TSR is a more complete return calculation because it accounts for the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested), along with the hypothetical value of any discounted capital that have been offered to shareholders. Dividends have been really beneficial for Flight Centre Travel Group shareholders, and that cash payout explains why its total shareholder loss of 45%, over the last 3 years, isn't as bad as the share price return.
A Different Perspective
It's nice to see that Flight Centre Travel Group shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 30% over the last year. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 6% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Flight Centre Travel Group that you should be aware of.
Of course Flight Centre Travel Group may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on AU 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.
