Investors who have held Aevis Victoria (VTX:AEVS) over the last three years have watched its earnings decline along with their investment

Many investors define successful investing as beating the market average over the long term. But if you try your hand at stock picking, you risk returning less than the market. We regret to report that long term Aevis Victoria SA (VTX:AEVS) shareholders have had that experience, with the share price dropping 27% in three years, versus a market return of about 29%.

While the stock has risen 3.9% in the past week but long term shareholders are still in the red, let's see what the fundamentals can tell us.

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Given that Aevis Victoria only made minimal earnings in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue to gauge its business development. Generally speaking, we'd consider a stock like this alongside loss-making companies, simply because the quantum of the profit is so low. It would be hard to believe in a more profitable future without growing revenues.

Over the last three years, Aevis Victoria's revenue dropped 0.8% per year. That's not what investors generally want to see. The annual decline of 8% per year in that period has clearly disappointed holders. That makes sense given the lack of either profits or revenue growth. Of course, sentiment could become too negative, and the company may actually be making progress to profitability.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

Take a more thorough look at Aevis Victoria's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We've already covered Aevis Victoria'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. Its history of dividend payouts mean that Aevis Victoria's TSR, which was a 24% drop over the last 3 years, was not as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 19% in the last year, Aevis Victoria shareholders lost 2.2%. 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. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 3%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Aevis Victoria better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Aevis Victoria is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is potentially serious...

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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.