Further weakness as Wellhope Foods (SHSE:603609) drops 5.2% this week, taking five-year losses to 32%

Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But every investor is virtually certain to have both over-performing and under-performing stocks. So we wouldn't blame long term Wellhope Foods Co., Ltd. (SHSE:603609) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 36% over a half decade. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 10% in the last 90 days. However, one could argue that the price has been influenced by the general market, which is down 4.7% in the same timeframe.

Since Wellhope Foods has shed CN¥375m from its value in the past 7 days, let's see if the longer term decline has been driven by the business' economics.

Check out our latest analysis for Wellhope Foods

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. 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.

In the last half decade Wellhope Foods saw its share price fall as its EPS declined below zero. Since the company has fallen to a loss making position, it's hard to compare the change in EPS with the share price change. However, we can say we'd expect to see a falling share price in this scenario.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Wellhope Foods' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We've already covered Wellhope Foods' 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 Wellhope Foods' TSR, which was a 32% drop over the last 5 years, was not as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

Wellhope Foods provided a TSR of 4.3% over the last twelve months. But that return falls short of the market. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 6% endured over half a decade. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. Shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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.