Even after rising 17% this past week, Adval Tech Holding (VTX:ADVN) shareholders are still down 55% over the past three years

Adval Tech Holding AG (VTX:ADVN) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 17% in the last week. Meanwhile over the last three years the stock has dropped hard. Tragically, the share price declined 56% in that time. So the improvement may be a real relief to some. While many would remain nervous, there could be further gains if the business can put its best foot forward.

While the last three years has been tough for Adval Tech Holding shareholders, this past week has shown signs of promise. So let's look at the longer term fundamentals and see if they've been the driver of the negative returns.

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Adval Tech Holding isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one would hope for good top-line growth to make up for the lack of earnings.

In the last three years, Adval Tech Holding saw its revenue grow by 0.7% per year, compound. That's not a very high growth rate considering it doesn't make profits. This uninspiring revenue growth has no doubt helped send the share price lower; it dropped 16% during the period. It can be well worth keeping an eye on growth stocks that disappoint the market, because sometimes they re-accelerate. After all, growing a business isn't easy, and the process will not always be smooth.

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

If you are thinking of buying or selling Adval Tech Holding stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 9.6% in the last year, Adval Tech Holding shareholders lost 38%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 9% over the last half decade. 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. 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 learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Adval Tech Holding (including 1 which can't be ignored) .

We will like Adval Tech Holding better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) 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 Swiss exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.