Yahoo Finance Those Who Purchased FireEye (NASDAQ:FEYE) Shares Five Years Ago Have A 46% Loss To Show For It
For many, the main point of investing is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But in any portfolio, there will be mixed results between individual stocks. So we wouldn't blame long term FireEye, Inc. (NASDAQ:FEYE) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 46% over a half decade. But it's up 6.4% in the last week.
See our latest analysis for FireEye
FireEye isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.
Over five years, FireEye grew its revenue at 15% per year. That's better than most loss-making companies. Shareholders are no doubt disappointed with the loss of 12%, each year, in that time. You could say that the market has been harsh, given the top line growth. If that's the case, now might be the smart time to take a close look at it.
You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
FireEye is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. Given we have quite a good number of analyst forecasts, it might be well worth checking out this free chart depicting consensus estimates.
A Different Perspective
While the broader market gained around 3.7% in the last year, FireEye shareholders lost 14%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 12% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. Before spending more time on FireEye it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.
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 US exchanges.
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If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
