If You Had Bought Tilly's (NYSE:TLYS) Stock Five Years Ago, You'd Be Sitting On A 15% Loss, Today

While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Tilly's, Inc. (NYSE:TLYS) share price has gained 21% in the last three months. But if you look at the last five years the returns have not been good. In fact, the share price is down 15%, which falls well short of the return you could get by buying an index fund.

See our latest analysis for Tilly's

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

During the unfortunate half decade during which the share price slipped, Tilly's actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 14% per year. Given the share price reaction, one might suspect that EPS is not a good guide to the business performance during the period (perhaps due to a one-off loss or gain). Alternatively, growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past.

Generally speaking we'd expect to see stronger share price increases on the back of sustained EPS growth, but other metrics may hold a clue to why the share price performance is relatively modest.

Revenue is actually up 3.4% over the time period. So it seems one might have to take closer look at the fundamentals to understand why the share price languishes. After all, there may be an opportunity.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We've already covered Tilly's's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). 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. Tilly's hasn't been paying dividends, but its TSR of 3.9% exceeds its share price return of -15%, implying it has either spun-off a business, or raised capital at a discount; thereby providing additional value to shareholders.

A Different Perspective

Tilly's shareholders are up 9.4% for the year. But that was short of the market average. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it's actually better than the average return of 0.8% over half a decade This could indicate that the company is winning over new investors, as it pursues its strategy. 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.

Tilly's is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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

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.

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