Telecom Italia (BIT:TIT) shareholder returns have been strong, earning 120% in 3 years

The worst result, after buying shares in a company (assuming no leverage), would be if you lose all the money you put in. But if you buy shares in a really great company, you can more than double your money. For instance the Telecom Italia S.p.A. (BIT:TIT) share price is 120% higher than it was three years ago. Most would be happy with that. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 12% gain in the last three months.

Since it's been a strong week for Telecom Italia shareholders, let's have a look at trend of the longer term fundamentals.

Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit.

Telecom Italia isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Telecom Italia actually saw its revenue drop by 2.8% per year over three years. So we wouldn't have expected the share price to gain 30% per year, but it has. It's a good reminder that expectations about the future, not the past history, always impact share prices.

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

Telecom Italia is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. If you are thinking of buying or selling Telecom Italia stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst consensus estimates for future profits.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Telecom Italia has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 86% in the last twelve months. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 3% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. Given the share price momentum remains strong, it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock, lest you miss an opportunity. Shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of undervalued companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.