If You Had Bought Wanka Online's (HKG:1762) Shares A Year Ago You Would Be Down 18%

Wanka Online Inc. (HKG:1762) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 193% in the last month. But that is minimal compensation for the share price under-performance over the last year. In fact the stock is down 18% in the last year, well below the market return.

See our latest analysis for Wanka Online

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.

Unhappily, Wanka Online had to report a 87% decline in EPS over the last year. This fall in the EPS is significantly worse than the 18% the share price fall. It may have been that the weak EPS was not as bad as some had feared.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. This free interactive report on Wanka Online's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Given that the market gained 30% in the last year, Wanka Online shareholders might be miffed that they lost 18%. While the aim is to do better than that, it's worth recalling that even great long-term investments sometimes underperform for a year or more. It's great to see a nice little 154% rebound in the last three months. This could just be a bounce because the selling was too aggressive, but fingers crossed it's the start of a new trend. 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. To that end, you should be aware of the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Wanka Online .

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

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