Shareholders in Dongzhu Ecological Environment Protection (SHSE:603359) have lost 64%, as stock drops 15% this past week

Dongzhu Ecological Environment Protection Co., Ltd. (SHSE:603359) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 41% in the last quarter. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last three years have been disappointing. Regrettably, the share price slid 64% in that period. So it's good to see it climbing back up. After all, could be that the fall was overdone.

Since Dongzhu Ecological Environment Protection has shed CN¥379m from its value in the past 7 days, let's see if the longer term decline has been driven by the business' economics.

See our latest analysis for Dongzhu Ecological Environment Protection

Because Dongzhu Ecological Environment Protection 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 desire strong revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Over the last three years, Dongzhu Ecological Environment Protection's revenue dropped 56% per year. That means its revenue trend is very weak compared to other loss making companies. Arguably, the market has responded appropriately to this business performance by sending the share price down 18% (annualized) in the same time period. Bagholders or 'baggies' are people who buy more of a stock as the price collapses. They are then left 'holding the bag' if the shares turn out to be worthless. After losing money on a declining business with falling stock price, we always consider whether eager bagholders are still offering us a reasonable exit price.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

Balance sheet strength is crucial. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 14% in the last year, Dongzhu Ecological Environment Protection shareholders lost 33% (even including dividends). 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. 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. 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 1 warning sign we've spotted with Dongzhu Ecological Environment Protection .

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of undervalued 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.