The worst result, after buying shares in a company (assuming no leverage), would be if you lose all the money you put in. But when you pick a company that is really flourishing, you can make more than 100%. For example, the Chin Hin Group Property Berhad (KLSE:CHGP) share price has soared 127% in the last half decade. Most would be very happy with that. Meanwhile the share price is 1.1% higher than it was a week ago.

So let's investigate and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

Check out our latest analysis for Chin Hin Group Property Berhad

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Over half a decade, Chin Hin Group Property Berhad managed to grow its earnings per share at 15% a year. This EPS growth is reasonably close to the 18% average annual increase in the share price. That suggests that the market sentiment around the company hasn't changed much over that time. Indeed, it would appear the share price is reacting to the EPS.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

Dive deeper into Chin Hin Group Property Berhad's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Chin Hin Group Property Berhad's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

Investors in Chin Hin Group Property Berhad had a tough year, with a total loss of 3.2%, against a market gain of about 9.8%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 18% per year over half a decade. 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. 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. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Chin Hin Group Property Berhad (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).