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Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 197% in the last month. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last year have trailed the market. Specifically, the stock returned 19% whereas the market is down , having returned (-19%) over the last year.
On a more encouraging note the company has added US$661m to its market cap in just the last 7 days, so let's see if we can determine what's driven the one-year loss for shareholders.
View our latest analysis for Pliant Therapeutics
Given that Pliant Therapeutics 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. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.
Pliant Therapeutics' revenue didn't grow at all in the last year. In fact, it fell 56%. If you think that's a particularly bad result, you're statistically on the money No surprise, then, that the share price fell 19% over the year. It's always work digging deeper, but we'd probably need to see a strong balance sheet and bottom line improvements to get interested in this one.
You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.
A Different Perspective
Pliant Therapeutics shareholders are down 19% for the year, even worse than the market loss of 16%. That's disappointing, but it's worth keeping in mind that the market-wide selling wouldn't have helped. Putting aside the last twelve months, it's good to see the share price has rebounded by 169%, in the last ninety days. Let's just hope this isn't the widely-feared 'dead cat bounce' (which would indicate further declines to come). 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. Take risks, for example - Pliant Therapeutics has 4 warning signs (and 2 which are a bit concerning) we think you should know about.
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.