Would Shareholders Who Purchased S.T. Dupont's (EPA:DPT) Stock Three Years Be Happy With The Share price Today?

S.T. Dupont S.A. (EPA:DPT) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 11% in the last quarter. But that cannot eclipse the less-than-impressive returns over the last three years. In fact, the share price is down 44% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return.

View our latest analysis for S.T. Dupont

Because S.T. Dupont made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Over the last three years, S.T. Dupont's revenue dropped 11% per year. That's not what investors generally want to see. The annual decline of 13% per year in that period has clearly disappointed holders. And with no profits, and weak revenue, are you surprised? Of course, sentiment could become too negative, and the company may actually be making progress to profitability.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

This free interactive report on S.T. Dupont'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 16% in the last year, S.T. Dupont shareholders lost 1.1%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. However, the loss over the last year isn't as bad as the 6% per annum loss investors have suffered over the last half decade. We'd need to see some sustained improvements in the key metrics before we could muster much enthusiasm. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand S.T. Dupont better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with S.T. Dupont (at least 1 which can't be ignored) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

We will like S.T. Dupont better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on FR exchanges.

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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. 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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