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The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But on the bright side, if you buy shares in a high quality company at the right price, you can gain well over 100%. Long term NEXTDC Limited (ASX:NXT) shareholders would be well aware of this, since the stock is up 233% in five years. On top of that, the share price is up 25% in about a quarter.
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.
Check out our latest analysis for NEXTDC
Given that NEXTDC didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.
In the last 5 years NEXTDC saw its revenue grow at 19% 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 27% 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 NEXTDC 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).
We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. This free report showing analyst forecasts should help you form a view on NEXTDC
What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?
We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between NEXTDC's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price return. Arguably the TSR is a more complete return calculation because it accounts for the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested), along with the hypothetical value of any discounted capital that have been offered to shareholders. We note that NEXTDC's TSR, at 238% is higher than its share price return of 233%. When you consider it hasn't been paying a dividend, this data suggests shareholders have benefitted from a spin-off, or had the opportunity to acquire attractively priced shares in a discounted capital raising.
A Different Perspective
NEXTDC shareholders gained a total return of 14% during the year. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. On the bright side, the longer term returns (running at about 28% a year, over half a decade) look better. It may well be that this is a business worth popping on the watching, given the continuing positive reception, over time, from the market. It is all well and good that insiders have been buying shares, but we suggest you check here to see what price insiders were buying at.