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Velodyne Lidar (NASDAQ:VLDR) investors are sitting on a loss of 51% if they invested a year ago

Taking the occasional loss comes part and parcel with investing on the stock market. And unfortunately for Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (NASDAQ:VLDR) shareholders, the stock is a lot lower today than it was a year ago. The share price is down a hefty 51% in that time. We note that it has not been easy for shareholders over three years, either; the share price is down 30% in that time. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 14% in the last 90 days. We note that the company has reported results fairly recently; and the market is hardly delighted. You can check out the latest numbers in our company report.

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.

See our latest analysis for Velodyne Lidar

Given that Velodyne Lidar 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. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

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Velodyne Lidar's revenue didn't grow at all in the last year. In fact, it fell 36%. That's not what investors generally want to see. In the absence of profits, it's not unreasonable that the share price fell 51%. Having said that, if growth is coming in the future, the stock may have better days ahead. We don't generally like to own companies with falling revenues and no profits, so we're pretty cautious of this one, at the moment.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

earnings-and-revenue-growth
earnings-and-revenue-growth

This free interactive report on Velodyne Lidar'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 Velodyne Lidar shares, which cost holders 51%, while the market was up about 31%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. The three-year loss of 9% 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 Velodyne Lidar better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Velodyne Lidar , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can 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.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.