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Long term investing works well, but it doesn't always work for each individual stock. It hits us in the gut when we see fellow investors suffer a loss. Spare a thought for those who held CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited (NSE:CGPOWER) for five whole years - as the share price tanked 83%. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 40% over the last twelve months. The last week also saw the share price slip down another 9.6%.

While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isn't as important as health and happiness.

Check out our latest analysis for CG Power and Industrial Solutions

Given that CG Power and Industrial Solutions 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. 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.

Over half a decade CG Power and Industrial Solutions reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 19% for each year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. So it's not that strange that the share price dropped 30% per year in that period. We don't think this is a particularly promising picture. Of course, the poor performance could mean the market has been too severe selling down. That can happen.

You can see how revenue and earnings have changed over time in the image below, (click on the chart to see cashflow).

This free interactive report on CG Power and Industrial Solutions's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 1.7% in the last year, CG Power and Industrial Solutions shareholders lost 40%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 30% per year over five years. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. You could get a better understanding of CG Power and Industrial Solutions's growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

We will like CG Power and Industrial Solutions better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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