It is a pleasure to report that the Apontis Pharma AG (ETR:APPH) is up 32% in the last quarter. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last year have been less than pleasing. In fact, the price has declined 13% in a year, falling short of the returns you could get by investing in an index fund.

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 Apontis Pharma

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Apontis Pharma managed to increase earnings per share from a loss to a profit, over the last 12 months.

When a company has just transitioned to profitability, earnings per share growth is not always the best way to look at the share price action. So it makes sense to check out some other factors.

Apontis Pharma's revenue is actually up 14% over the last year. Since we can't easily explain the share price movement based on these metrics, it might be worth considering how market sentiment has changed towards the stock.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

We know that Apontis Pharma has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? If you are thinking of buying or selling Apontis Pharma stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

A Different Perspective

Apontis Pharma shareholders are down 13% for the year, even worse than the market loss of 5.9%. There's no doubt that's a disappointment, but the stock may well have fared better in a stronger market. It's great to see a nice little 32% rebound in the last three months. Let's just hope this isn't the widely-feared 'dead cat bounce' (which would indicate further declines to come). 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. Take risks, for example - Apontis Pharma has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

But note: Apontis Pharma may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on German exchanges.