Every investor on earth makes bad calls sometimes. But you have a problem if you face massive losses more than once in a while. So consider, for a moment, the misfortune of IBU-tec advanced materials AG (ETR:IBU) investors who have held the stock for three years as it declined a whopping 70%. That might cause some serious doubts about the merits of the initial decision to buy the stock, to put it mildly. And the ride hasn't got any smoother in recent times over the last year, with the price 47% lower in that time. Contrary to the longer term story, the last month has been good for stockholders, with a share price gain of 8.7%.

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.

Check out our latest analysis for IBU-tec advanced materials

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

Over the three years that the share price declined, IBU-tec advanced materials' earnings per share (EPS) dropped significantly, falling to a loss. Since the company has fallen to a loss making position, it's hard to compare the change in EPS with the share price change. However, we can say we'd expect to see a falling share price in this scenario.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

Dive deeper into IBU-tec advanced materials' key metrics by checking this interactive graph of IBU-tec advanced materials's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

Investors in IBU-tec advanced materials had a tough year, with a total loss of 47% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 8.1%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 0.3%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for IBU-tec advanced materials (1 is potentially serious) that you should be aware of.