Shanghai Prosolar Resources Development (SHSE:600193) shareholders are up 14% this past week, but still in the red over the last three years

Shanghai Prosolar Resources Development Co., Ltd (SHSE:600193) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 21% in the last month. But that is small recompense for the exasperating returns over three years. Indeed, the share price is down a tragic 51% in the last three years. So it is really good to see an improvement. Perhaps the company has turned over a new leaf.

The recent uptick of 14% could be a positive sign of things to come, so let's take a look at historical fundamentals.

See our latest analysis for Shanghai Prosolar Resources Development

Given that Shanghai Prosolar Resources Development didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one would hope for good top-line growth to make up for the lack of earnings.

Over the last three years, Shanghai Prosolar Resources Development's revenue dropped 77% 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 15% (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. It could be a while before the company repays long suffering shareholders with share price gains.

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

Take a more thorough look at Shanghai Prosolar Resources Development's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

Shanghai Prosolar Resources Development shareholders are down 32% for the year, but the market itself is up 7.9%. 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. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 0.2% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. 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 Shanghai Prosolar Resources Development is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those shouldn't be ignored...

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: many of them are unnoticed AND have attractive valuation).

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.