Shareholders in Leshan Giantstar Farming&Husbandry (SHSE:603477) have lost 51%, as stock drops 6.7% this past week

Taking the occasional loss comes part and parcel with investing on the stock market. Unfortunately, shareholders of Leshan Giantstar Farming&Husbandry Corporation Limited (SHSE:603477) have suffered share price declines over the last year. The share price has slid 51% in that time. However, the longer term returns haven't been so bad, with the stock down 6.1% in the last three years. Furthermore, it's down 18% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

Given the past week has been tough on shareholders, let's investigate the fundamentals and see what we can learn.

Check out our latest analysis for Leshan Giantstar Farming&Husbandry

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During the unfortunate twelve months during which the Leshan Giantstar Farming&Husbandry share price fell, it actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 52%. It's quite possible that growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past. In fact, we can see extraordinary items impacting earnings in the last twelve months.

It's surprising to see the share price fall so much, despite the improved EPS. So it's well worth checking out some other metrics, too.

Leshan Giantstar Farming&Husbandry's revenue is actually up 12% over the last year. Since we can't easily explain the share price movement based on these metrics, it might be worth considering how market sentiment has changed towards the stock.

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

If you are thinking of buying or selling Leshan Giantstar Farming&Husbandry stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 6.1% in the last year, Leshan Giantstar Farming&Husbandry shareholders lost 51%. 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 7%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. 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. Even so, be aware that Leshan Giantstar Farming&Husbandry is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course Leshan Giantstar Farming&Husbandry may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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.