The Software (ETR:SOW) Share Price Is Down 28% So Some Shareholders Are Getting Worried

The simplest way to benefit from a rising market is to buy an index fund. While individual stocks can be big winners, plenty more fail to generate satisfactory returns. That downside risk was realized by Software Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:SOW) shareholders over the last year, as the share price declined 28%. That's disappointing when you consider the market returned -7.1%. Because Software hasn't been listed for many years, the market is still learning about how the business performs.

Check out our latest analysis for Software

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

During the unfortunate twelve months during which the Software share price fell, it actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 19%. It could be that the share price was previously over-hyped. It's fair to say that the share price does not seem to be reflecting the EPS growth. But we might find some different metrics explain the share price movements better.

Revenue was pretty flat on last year, which isn't too bad. However, it is certainly possible the market was expecting an uptick in revenue, and that the share price fall reflects that disappointment.

You can see how revenue and earnings have changed over time in the image below, (click on the chart to see cashflow).

Software is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. So we recommend checking out this freereport showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

Software shareholders are down 27% for the year (even including dividends), even worse than the market loss of 7.1%. There's no doubt that's a disappointment, but the stock may well have fared better in a stronger market. The share price decline has continued throughout the most recent three months, down 0.7%, suggesting an absence of enthusiasm from investors. Given the relatively short history of this stock, we'd remain pretty wary until we see some strong business performance. Before deciding if you like the current share price, check how Software scores on these 3 valuation metrics.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this freelist of growing companies that insiders are buying.

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If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.