The 13% return this week takes Hyundai Bioscience's (KOSDAQ:048410) shareholders five-year gains to 78%

When we invest, we're generally looking for stocks that outperform the market average. Buying under-rated businesses is one path to excess returns. For example, the Hyundai Bioscience Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:048410) share price is up 78% in the last 5 years, clearly besting the market return of around 43% (ignoring dividends).

The past week has proven to be lucrative for Hyundai Bioscience investors, so let's see if fundamentals drove the company's five-year performance.

View our latest analysis for Hyundai Bioscience

Given that Hyundai Bioscience didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope to see good revenue growth. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last 5 years Hyundai Bioscience saw its revenue shrink by 32% per year. Even though revenue hasn't increased, the stock actually gained 12%, per year, during the same period. To us that suggests that there probably isn't a lot of correlation between the past revenue performance and the share price, but a closer look at analyst forecasts and the bottom line may well explain a lot.

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 Hyundai Bioscience's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Investors in Hyundai Bioscience had a tough year, with a total loss of 21%, against a market gain of about 4.1%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 12%, 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Hyundai Bioscience better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Hyundai Bioscience .

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 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.

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