It's possible to achieve returns close to the market-weighted average return by buying an index fund. But even in a market-beating portfolio, some stocks will lag the market. The Foodlink A.E. (ATH:FOODL) is down 65% over five years, but the total shareholder return is -49% once you include the dividend. And that total return actually beats the market return of -79%. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 10% in the last three months.
See our latest analysis for Foodlink A.E
Foodlink A.E isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.
Over five years, Foodlink A.E grew its revenue at 8.5% per year. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. The share price, meanwhile, has fallen 19% compounded, over five years. That suggests the market is disappointed with the current growth rate. That could lead to an opportunity if the company is going to become profitable sooner rather than later.
The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.
What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?
We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between Foodlink A.E'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. Foodlink A.E hasn't been paying dividends, but its TSR of -49% exceeds its share price return of -65%, implying it has either spun-off a business, or raised capital at a discount; thereby providing additional value to shareholders.
A Different Perspective
Foodlink A.E shareholders are down 7.7% for the year, but the market itself is up 24%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, longer term shareholders are suffering worse, given the loss of 13% doled out over the last five years. We'd need to see some sustained improvements in the key metrics before we could muster much enthusiasm. Most investors take the time to check the data on insider transactions. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.