Costar Group (SZSE:002189) delivers shareholders 21% return over 1 year, surging 12% in the last week alone

If you want to compound wealth in the stock market, you can do so by buying an index fund. But investors can boost returns by picking market-beating companies to own shares in. For example, the Costar Group Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002189) share price is up 21% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market return of around 1.2% (not including dividends). That's a solid performance by our standards! The longer term returns have not been as good, with the stock price only 7.9% higher than it was three years ago.

Since it's been a strong week for Costar Group shareholders, let's have a look at trend of the longer term fundamentals.

See our latest analysis for Costar Group

Costar Group isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. 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.

In the last year Costar Group saw its revenue shrink by 23%. The stock is up 21% in that time, a fine performance given the revenue drop. We can correlate the share price rise with revenue or profit growth, but it seems the market had previously expected weaker results, and sentiment around the stock is improving.

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 Costar Group's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that Costar Group shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 21% over one year. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 1.3% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Costar Group you should be aware of, and 2 of them can't be ignored.

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.