Passive investing in index funds can generate returns that roughly match the overall market. But if you pick the right individual stocks, you could make more than that. For example, the Meituan Dianping (HKG:3690) share price is up 13% in the last year, clearly besting the market return of around -8.6% (not including dividends). So that should have shareholders smiling. We'll need to follow Meituan Dianping for a while to get a better sense of its share price trend, since it hasn't been listed for particularly long.

Check out our latest analysis for Meituan Dianping

Because Meituan Dianping 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.

Meituan Dianping grew its revenue by 74% last year. That's stonking growth even when compared to other loss-making stocks. The solid 13% share price gain goes down pretty well, but it's not necessarily as good as you might expect given the top notch revenue growth. So quite frankly it could be a good time to investigate Meituan Dianping in some detail. Human beings have trouble conceptualizing (and valuing) exponential growth. Is that what we're seeing here?

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

Meituan Dianping is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that Meituan Dianping shareholders have gained 13% over the last year. And the share price momentum remains respectable, with a gain of 22% in the last three months. This suggests the company is continuing to win over new investors. You could get a better understanding of Meituan Dianping's growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.