The truth is that if you invest for long enough, you're going to end up with some losing stocks. But the last three years have been particularly tough on longer term Far East Hotels and Entertainment Limited (HKG:37) shareholders. So they might be feeling emotional about the 55% share price collapse, in that time. Furthermore, it's down 15% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.
View our latest analysis for Far East Hotels and Entertainment
Because Far East Hotels and Entertainment is loss-making, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.
In the last three years, Far East Hotels and Entertainment saw its revenue grow by 4.4% per year, compound. Given it's losing money in pursuit of growth, we are not really impressed with that. This uninspiring revenue growth has no doubt helped send the share price lower; it dropped 23% during the period. It can be well worth keeping an eye on growth stocks that disappoint the market, because sometimes they re-accelerate. Keep in mind it isn't unusual for good businesses to have a tough time or a couple of uninspiring years.
You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
It's probably worth noting we've seen significant insider buying in the last quarter, which we consider a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Far East Hotels and Entertainment's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
A Different Perspective
Investors in Far East Hotels and Entertainment had a tough year, with a total loss of 11%, against a market gain of about 4.1%. 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 4.2% 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. Investors who like to make money usually check up on insider purchases, such as the price paid, and total amount bought. You can find out about the insider purchases of Far East Hotels and Entertainment by clicking this link.