CECEP Techand Ecology&EnvironmentLtd (SZSE:300197 investor five-year losses grow to 61% as the stock sheds CN¥474m this past week

Generally speaking long term investing is the way to go. But along the way some stocks are going to perform badly. For example the CECEP Techand Ecology&Environment Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:300197) share price dropped 61% over five years. That's an unpleasant experience for long term holders. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 38% in the last year. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 18% in the last 90 days.

After losing 8.6% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

Check out our latest analysis for CECEP Techand Ecology&EnvironmentLtd

Because CECEP Techand Ecology&EnvironmentLtd 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. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope to see good revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Over half a decade CECEP Techand Ecology&EnvironmentLtd reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 26% for each year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. It seems appropriate, then, that the share price slid about 10% annually during that time. It's fair to say most investors don't like to invest in loss making companies with falling revenue. This looks like a really risky stock to buy, at a glance.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

This free interactive report on CECEP Techand Ecology&EnvironmentLtd's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that CECEP Techand Ecology&EnvironmentLtd shareholders are down 38% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 17%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 10% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand CECEP Techand Ecology&EnvironmentLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for CECEP Techand Ecology&EnvironmentLtd you should be aware of, and 2 of them are potentially serious.

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 Chinese 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.