If You Had Bought Birlasoft (NSE:BSOFT) Stock Five Years Ago, You'd Be Sitting On A 67% Loss, Today

The main aim of stock picking is to find the market-beating stocks. But in any portfolio, there will be mixed results between individual stocks. At this point some shareholders may be questioning their investment in Birlasoft Limited (NSE:BSOFT), since the last five years saw the share price fall 67%. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 67% in the last year. The good news is that the stock is up 1.7% in the last week.

View our latest analysis for Birlasoft

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

During the five years over which the share price declined, Birlasoft's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 11% each year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 20% annual reduction in the share price. This implies that the market was previously too optimistic about the stock. The low P/E ratio of 9.90 further reflects this reticence.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

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

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Birlasoft the TSR over the last 5 years was -35%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 10% in the last year, Birlasoft shareholders lost 37% (even including dividends) . However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 8.1% 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 Birlasoft better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Birlasoft (2 are potentially serious) that you should be aware of.

We will like Birlasoft better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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

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