Despite currently being unprofitable, Doosan Fuel Cell (KRX:336260) has delivered a 70% return to shareholders over 1 year

These days it's easy to simply buy an index fund, and your returns should (roughly) match the market. But you can significantly boost your returns by picking above-average stocks. To wit, the Doosan Fuel Cell Co., Ltd. (KRX:336260) share price is 70% higher than it was a year ago, much better than the market return of around 48% (not including dividends) in the same period. If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! In contrast, the longer term returns are negative, since the share price is 12% lower than it was three years ago.

Although Doosan Fuel Cell has shed ₩154b from its market cap this week, let's take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they've driven returns.

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Because Doosan Fuel Cell 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 the last twelve months, Doosan Fuel Cell's revenue grew by 118%. That's stonking growth even when compared to other loss-making stocks. The solid 70% share price gain goes down pretty well, but it's not necessarily as good as you might expect given the top notch revenue growth. If that's the case, now might be the time to take a close look at Doosan Fuel Cell. Human beings have trouble conceptualizing (and valuing) exponential growth. Is that what we're seeing here?

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

This free interactive report on Doosan Fuel Cell's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that Doosan Fuel Cell shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 70% over one year. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 6% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. 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. Even so, be aware that Doosan Fuel Cell is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

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