Steel Exchange India (NSE:STEELXIND) shareholders are still up 708% over 5 years despite pulling back 14% in the past week

Steel Exchange India Limited (NSE:STEELXIND) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 16% in the last month. But that does not change the realty that the stock's performance has been terrific, over five years. To be precise, the stock price is 708% higher than it was five years ago, a wonderful performance by any measure. So it might be that some shareholders are taking profits after good performance. Of course what matters most is whether the business can improve itself sustainably, thus justifying a higher price. It really delights us to see such great share price performance for investors.

Although Steel Exchange India has shed ₹2.5b from its market cap this week, let's take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they've driven returns.

See our latest analysis for Steel Exchange India

Steel Exchange India isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

In the last 5 years Steel Exchange India saw its revenue grow at 8.9% per year. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. However, the share price gain of 52% during the period is considerably stronger. We usually like strong growth stocks but it does seem the market already appreciates this one quite well!

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

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.

A Different Perspective

Steel Exchange India shareholders are down 8.7% for the year, but the market itself is up 47%. 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. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 52%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth 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. Even so, be aware that Steel Exchange India is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are a bit unpleasant...

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 Indian 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.