The three-year returns have been notable for Xi'an Tourism (SZSE:000610) shareholders despite underlying losses increasing

By buying an index fund, you can roughly match the market return with ease. But many of us dare to dream of bigger returns, and build a portfolio ourselves. For example, the Xi'an Tourism Co., Ltd. (SZSE:000610) share price is up 97% in the last three years, clearly besting the market decline of around 17% (not including dividends). On the other hand, the returns haven't been quite so good recently, with shareholders up just 11%.

On the back of a solid 7-day performance, let's check what role the company's fundamentals have played in driving long term shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Xi'an Tourism

Because Xi'an Tourism 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. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last 3 years Xi'an Tourism saw its revenue shrink by 3.0% per year. The revenue growth might be lacking but the share price has gained 25% each year in that time. Unless the company is going to make profits soon, we would be pretty cautious about it.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Xi'an Tourism's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

Xi'an Tourism shareholders are up 11% for the year. But that was short of the market average. If we look back over five years, the returns are even better, coming in at 11% per year for five years. Maybe the share price is just taking a breather while the business executes on its growth strategy. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Xi'an Tourism better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Xi'an Tourism .

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

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.