Market is not liking Hopson Development Holdings' (HKG:754) earnings decline as stock retreats 3.7% this week

Hopson Development Holdings Limited (HKG:754) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 26% in the last quarter. Meanwhile over the last three years the stock has dropped hard. In that time, the share price dropped 69%. So it's good to see it climbing back up. After all, could be that the fall was overdone.

If the past week is anything to go by, investor sentiment for Hopson Development Holdings isn't positive, so let's see if there's a mismatch between fundamentals and the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Hopson Development Holdings

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Hopson Development Holdings saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 81% per year, over the last three years. This fall in the EPS is worse than the 32% compound annual share price fall. So, despite the prior disappointment, shareholders must have some confidence the situation will improve, longer term. This positive sentiment is also reflected in the generous P/E ratio of 128.50.

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

It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Hopson Development Holdings' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

Investors in Hopson Development Holdings had a tough year, with a total loss of 20%, against a market gain of about 25%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 4% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. 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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Hopson Development Holdings (of which 2 don't sit too well with us!) you should know about.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: many of them are unnoticed AND have attractive valuation).

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