Shareholders in Kudan (TSE:4425) have lost 84%, as stock drops 12% this past week

Long term investing is the way to go, but that doesn't mean you should hold every stock forever. We don't wish catastrophic capital loss on anyone. For example, we sympathize with anyone who was caught holding Kudan Inc. (TSE:4425) during the five years that saw its share price drop a whopping 84%. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 13% in the last three months. This could be related to the recent financial results - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report. While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isn't as important as health and happiness.

With the stock having lost 12% in the past week, it's worth taking a look at business performance and seeing if there's any red flags.

View our latest analysis for Kudan

Because Kudan made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope to see good revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one would hope for good top-line growth to make up for the lack of earnings.

Over five years, Kudan grew its revenue at 11% per year. That's a pretty good rate for a long time period. So it is unexpected to see the stock down 13% per year in the last five years. The truth is that the growth might be below expectations, and investors are probably worried about the continual losses.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

A Different Perspective

Kudan shareholders gained a total return of 5.6% during the year. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. But at least that's still a gain! Over five years the TSR has been a reduction of 13% per year, over five years. So this might be a sign the business has turned its fortunes around. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Kudan better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Kudan you should know about.

We will like Kudan better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) 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 Japanese 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.