Did You Manage To Avoid Cellcom Israel's (TLV:CEL) Painful 68% Share Price Drop?

Investing in stocks inevitably means buying into some companies that perform poorly. But long term Cellcom Israel Ltd. (TLV:CEL) shareholders have had a particularly rough ride in the last three year. Unfortunately, they have held through a 68% decline in the share price in that time. And the ride hasn't got any smoother in recent times over the last year, with the price 22% lower in that time. Furthermore, it's down 11% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders. But this could be related to the weak market, which is down 17% in the same period.

See our latest analysis for Cellcom Israel

Given that Cellcom Israel didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Over the last three years, Cellcom Israel's revenue dropped 3.0% per year. That's not what investors generally want to see. The share price decline of 32% compound, over three years, is understandable given the company doesn't have profits to boast of, and revenue is moving in the wrong direction. Having said that, if growth is coming in the future, now may be the low ebb for the company. We don't generally like to own companies that lose money and can't grow revenues. But any company is worth looking at when it makes a maiden profit.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

This free interactive report on Cellcom Israel'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 lost about 3.6% in the twelve months, Cellcom Israel shareholders did even worse, losing 22%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 4.8% 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. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Cellcom Israel (of which 2 are concerning!) you should know about.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

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

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.