Should Crescent (EBR:OPTI) Be Disappointed With Their 36% Profit?

The simplest way to invest in stocks is to buy exchange traded funds. But if you pick the right individual stocks, you could make more than that. For example, the Crescent NV (EBR:OPTI) share price is up 36% in the last year, clearly besting the market return of around 17% (not including dividends). If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! Note that businesses generally develop over the long term, so the returns over the last year might not reflect a long term trend.

See our latest analysis for Crescent

Because Crescent 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. 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.

Crescent grew its revenue by 3.2% last year. That's not a very high growth rate considering it doesn't make profits. In keeping with the revenue growth, the share price gained 36% in that time. That's not a standout result, but it is solid - much like the level of revenue growth. It could be worth keeping an eye on this one, especially if growth accelerates.

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

You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

A Different Perspective

Crescent boasts a total shareholder return of 36% for the last year. Unfortunately the share price is down 3.0% over the last quarter. It may simply be that the share price got ahead of itself, although there may have been fundamental developments that are weighing on it. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Crescent you should be aware of.

We will like Crescent 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 BE 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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