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The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But when you pick a company that is really flourishing, you can make more than 100%. For example, the LIMES Schlosskliniken AG (ETR:LIK) share price has soared 238% in the last half decade. Most would be very happy with that. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 16% gain in the last three months. This could be related to the recent financial results, released recently - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report.
With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.
View our latest analysis for LIMES Schlosskliniken
To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' 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.
During the last half decade, LIMES Schlosskliniken became profitable. That kind of transition can be an inflection point that justifies a strong share price gain, just as we have seen here.
The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
It is of course excellent to see how LIMES Schlosskliniken has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. This free interactive report on LIMES Schlosskliniken's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
A Different Perspective
Investors in LIMES Schlosskliniken had a tough year, with a total loss of 1.2%, against a market gain of about 7.4%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 28% per year over half a decade. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with LIMES Schlosskliniken (at least 1 which is a bit unpleasant) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.