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Long term investing is the way to go, but that doesn't mean you should hold every stock forever. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. Anyone who held Tye Soon Limited (SGX:BFU) for five years would be nursing their metaphorical wounds since the share price dropped 79% in that time. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 52% in the last year. Even worse, it's down 20% in about a month, which isn't fun at all.
View our latest analysis for Tye Soon
In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. 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.
In the last half decade Tye Soon saw its share price fall as its EPS declined below zero. 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.
The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
Dive deeper into Tye Soon's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Tye Soon's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
A Dividend Lost
The value of past dividends are accounted for in the total shareholder return (TSR), but not in the share price return mentioned above. In some ways, TSR is a better measure of how well an investment has performed. Over the last 5 years, Tye Soon generated a TSR of -72%, which is, of course, better than the share price return. Although the company had to cut dividends, it has paid cash to shareholders in the past.
A Different Perspective
While the broader market lost about 1.9% in the twelve months, Tye Soon shareholders did even worse, losing 52%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 22% 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. You could get a better understanding of Tye Soon's growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.