If You Had Bought iCollege (ASX:ICT) Shares A Year Ago You'd Have Earned 192% Returns

The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But when you pick a company that is really flourishing, you can make more than 100%. Take, for example iCollege Limited (ASX:ICT). Its share price is already up an impressive 192% in the last twelve months. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 150% gain in the last three months. Note that businesses generally develop over the long term, so the returns over the last year might not reflect a long term trend.

View our latest analysis for iCollege

Because iCollege made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last year iCollege saw its revenue grow by 26%. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. The revenue growth is decent but the share price had an even better year, gaining 192%. Given that the business has made good progress on the top line, it would be worth taking a look at its path to profitability. But investors need to be wary of how the 'fear of missing out' could influence them to buy without doing thorough research.

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

It's probably worth noting we've seen significant insider buying in the last quarter, which we consider a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. This free interactive report on iCollege's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that iCollege shareholders have gained 192% over the last year. And the share price momentum remains respectable, with a gain of 150% in the last three months. Demand for the stock from multiple parties is pushing the price higher; it could be that word is getting out about its virtues as a business. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should be aware of the 4 warning signs we've spotted with iCollege .

iCollege 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 AU exchanges.

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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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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