Investors in Sichuan Haowu Electromechanical (SZSE:000757) from five years ago are still down 40%, even after 10% gain this past week

Sichuan Haowu Electromechanical Co., Ltd. (SZSE:000757) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 11% in the last month. But over the last half decade, the stock has not performed well. In fact, the share price is down 40%, which falls well short of the return you could get by buying an index fund.

While the stock has risen 10% in the past week but long term shareholders are still in the red, let's see what the fundamentals can tell us.

View our latest analysis for Sichuan Haowu Electromechanical

Sichuan Haowu Electromechanical 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 half a decade Sichuan Haowu Electromechanical reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 4.8% for each year. While far from catastrophic that is not good. The stock hasn't done well for shareholders in the last five years, falling 7%, annualized. Unfortunately, though, it makes sense given the lack of either profits or revenue growth. It might be worth watching for signs of a turnaround - buyers are probably expecting one.

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 Sichuan Haowu Electromechanical'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 lost about 19% in the twelve months, Sichuan Haowu Electromechanical shareholders did even worse, losing 38%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 7% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. 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. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Sichuan Haowu Electromechanical that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com