Yahoo Finance SPI Energy (NASDAQ:SPI) investors are sitting on a loss of 67% if they invested a year ago
Taking the occasional loss comes part and parcel with investing on the stock market. Anyone who held SPI Energy Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ:SPI) over the last year knows what a loser feels like. The share price is down a hefty 67% in that time. However, the longer term returns haven't been so bad, with the stock down 8.5% in the last three years.
Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.
View our latest analysis for SPI Energy
SPI Energy isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.
SPI Energy grew its revenue by 16% over the last year. We think that is pretty nice growth. Meanwhile, the share price tanked 67%, suggesting the market had much higher expectations. It may well be that the business remains approximately on track, but its revenue growth has simply been delayed. For us it's important to consider when you think a company will become profitable, if you're basing your valuation on revenue.
The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
This free interactive report on SPI Energy's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
A Different Perspective
The last twelve months weren't great for SPI Energy shares, which performed worse than the market, costing holders 67%. Meanwhile, the broader market slid about 12%, likely weighing on the stock. The three-year loss of 2.8% per year isn't as bad as the last twelve months, suggesting that the company has not been able to convince the market it has solved its problems. Although Baron Rothschild famously said to "buy when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own", he also focusses on high quality stocks with solid prospects. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand SPI Energy better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that SPI Energy is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US 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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