The 6.8% return this week takes HANA Micron's (KOSDAQ:067310) shareholders five-year gains to 353%

For many, the main point of investing in the stock market is to achieve spectacular returns. While not every stock performs well, when investors win, they can win big. Just think about the savvy investors who held HANA Micron Inc. (KOSDAQ:067310) shares for the last five years, while they gained 320%. This just goes to show the value creation that some businesses can achieve. On top of that, the share price is up 118% in about a quarter.

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

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There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During the last half decade, HANA Micron became profitable. Sometimes, the start of profitability is a major inflection point that can signal fast earnings growth to come, which in turn justifies very strong share price gains.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

We know that HANA Micron has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? Check if analysts think HANA Micron will grow revenue in the future.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of HANA Micron, it has a TSR of 353% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that HANA Micron shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 168% over the last year. Of course, that includes the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 35%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand HANA Micron better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with HANA Micron (including 1 which shouldn't be ignored) .

Of course HANA Micron may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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.