Shareholders in Digital China Holdings (HKG:861) have lost 44%, as stock drops 11% this past week

In order to justify the effort of selecting individual stocks, it's worth striving to beat the returns from a market index fund. But every investor is virtually certain to have both over-performing and under-performing stocks. So we wouldn't blame long term Digital China Holdings Limited (HKG:861) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 51% over a half decade. Even worse, it's down 15% in about a month, which isn't fun at all. This could be related to the recent financial results - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report.

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

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Digital China Holdings wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Over five years, Digital China Holdings grew its revenue at 1.2% per year. That's not a very high growth rate considering it doesn't make profits. This lacklustre growth has no doubt fueled the loss of 9% per year, in that time. We'd want to see proof that future revenue growth is likely to be significantly stronger before getting too interested in Digital China Holdings. When a stock falls hard like this, some investors like to add the company to a watchlist (in case the business recovers, longer term).

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

Balance sheet strength is crucial. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between Digital China Holdings' total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price return. Arguably the TSR is a more complete return calculation because it accounts for the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested), along with the hypothetical value of any discounted capital that have been offered to shareholders. Its history of dividend payouts mean that Digital China Holdings' TSR, which was a 44% drop over the last 5 years, was not as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

Digital China Holdings provided a TSR of 6.5% over the last twelve months. But that was short of the market average. But at least that's still a gain! Over five years the TSR has been a reduction of 8% per year, over five years. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. You could get a better understanding of Digital China Holdings' growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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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.