The five-year shareholder returns and company earnings persist lower as Lifestyle China Group (HKG:2136) stock falls a further 10% in past week

Some stocks are best avoided. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. Imagine if you held Lifestyle China Group Limited (HKG:2136) for half a decade as the share price tanked 79%. We also note that the stock has performed poorly over the last year, with the share price down 48%. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 23% in the last three months. We note that the company has reported results fairly recently; and the market is hardly delighted. You can check out the latest numbers in our company report.

With the stock having lost 10% in the past week, it's worth taking a look at business performance and seeing if there's any red flags.

Check out our latest analysis for Lifestyle China Group

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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 five years of share price growth, Lifestyle China Group moved from a loss to profitability. That would generally be considered a positive, so we are surprised to see the share price is down. Other metrics might give us a better handle on how its value is changing over time.

In contrast to the share price, revenue has actually increased by 2.1% a year in the five year period. A more detailed examination of the revenue and earnings may or may not explain why the share price languishes; there could be an opportunity.

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

If you are thinking of buying or selling Lifestyle China Group stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Lifestyle China Group shareholders are down 48% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 8.0%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 12% 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Lifestyle China Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Lifestyle China Group that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.

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.