When you buy shares in a company, it's worth keeping in mind the possibility that it could fail, and you could lose your money. But on the bright side, you can make far more than 100% on a really good stock. Long term Trupanion, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRUP) shareholders would be well aware of this, since the stock is up 172% in five years. But it's down 6.6% in the last week.

While this past week has detracted from the company's five-year return, let's look at the recent trends of the underlying business and see if the gains have been in alignment.

See our latest analysis for Trupanion

Trupanion wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

For the last half decade, Trupanion can boast revenue growth at a rate of 26% per year. That's well above most pre-profit companies. So it's not entirely surprising that the share price reflected this performance by increasing at a rate of 22% per year, in that time. This suggests the market has well and truly recognized the progress the business has made. To our minds that makes Trupanion worth investigating - it may have its best days ahead.

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

If you are thinking of buying or selling Trupanion stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Trupanion shareholders are down 45% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 11%. 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. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 22%, each year, over five years. 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Trupanion better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Trupanion you should know about.

But note: Trupanion may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).