Investors can approximate the average market return by buying an index fund. But if you buy individual stocks, you can do both better or worse than that. That downside risk was realized by Kardex Holding AG (VTX:KARN) shareholders over the last year, as the share price declined 45%. That contrasts poorly with the market decline of 9.9%. However, the longer term returns haven't been so bad, with the stock down 4.4% in the last three years.
Since shareholders are down over the longer term, lets look at the underlying fundamentals over the that time and see if they've been consistent with returns.
Check out our latest analysis for Kardex Holding
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.
Unfortunately Kardex Holding reported an EPS drop of 7.4% for the last year. The share price decline of 45% is actually more than the EPS drop. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, a year ago.
You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
This free interactive report on Kardex Holding's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
A Different Perspective
We regret to report that Kardex Holding shareholders are down 44% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 9.9%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 9%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. 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 - Kardex Holding has 3 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about.
If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on CH exchanges.