Investors ignore increasing losses at Softing (ETR:SYT) as stock jumps 10% this past week

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 Softing AG (ETR:SYT) share price is up 44% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market return of around 27% (not including dividends). That's a solid performance by our standards! Unfortunately the longer term returns are not so good, with the stock falling 21% in the last three years.

The past week has proven to be lucrative for Softing investors, so let's see if fundamentals drove the company's one-year performance.

Check out our latest analysis for Softing

Given that Softing 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. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

In the last year Softing saw its revenue shrink by 5.8%. Despite the lack of revenue growth, the stock has returned a solid 44% the last twelve months. 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 image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

Take a more thorough look at Softing's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that Softing shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 45% over one year. Of course, that includes the dividend. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 5% 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. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Softing that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course Softing 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 DE 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.
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