ATON (KOSDAQ:158430) jumps 13% this week, though earnings growth is still tracking behind one-year shareholder returns

While ATON Inc. (KOSDAQ:158430) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 13% in the last quarter. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last year have been pleasing. Looking at the full year, the company has easily bested an index fund by gaining 39%.

After a strong gain in the past week, it's worth seeing if longer term returns have been driven by improving fundamentals.

Our free stock report includes 1 warning sign investors should be aware of before investing in ATON. Read for free now.

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

During the last year ATON grew its earnings per share (EPS) by 14%. The share price gain of 39% certainly outpaced the EPS growth. So it's fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it a year ago.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

Dive deeper into ATON's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of ATON's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that ATON has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 40% in the last twelve months. And that does include the dividend. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 6% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. 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 ATON better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that ATON is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: many of them are unnoticed AND have attractive valuation).

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.