Even after rising 5.0% this past week, Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel (SZSE:000825) shareholders are still down 48% over the past three years

While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel Co., Ltd. (SZSE:000825) share price has gained 18% in the last three months. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last three years have been less than pleasing. After all, the share price is down 49% in the last three years, significantly under-performing the market.

The recent uptick of 5.0% could be a positive sign of things to come, so let's take a look at historical fundamentals.

View our latest analysis for Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel

Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. 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.

Over three years, Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel grew revenue at 1.3% per year. Given it's losing money in pursuit of growth, we are not really impressed with that. The stock dropped 14% during that time. Shareholders will probably be hoping growth picks up soon. But ultimately the key will be whether the company can become profitability.

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

This free interactive report on Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 10% in the last year, Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel shareholders lost 1.3%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 1.8%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel 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.