Genting Malaysia Berhad (KLSE:GENM) shareholders have endured a 13% loss from investing in the stock three years ago

While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Genting Malaysia Berhad (KLSE:GENM) share price has gained 17% in the last three months. But that doesn't help the fact that the three year return is less impressive. In fact, the share price is down 24% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return.

Since shareholders are down over the longer term, lets look at the underlying fundamentals over the that time and see if they've been consistent with returns.

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To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' 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 five years of share price growth, Genting Malaysia Berhad moved from a loss to profitability. We would usually expect to see the share price rise as a result. So it's worth looking at other metrics to try to understand the share price move.

We note that, in three years, revenue has actually grown at a 13% annual rate, so that doesn't seem to be a reason to sell shares. It's probably worth investigating Genting Malaysia Berhad further; while we may be missing something on this analysis, there might also be an opportunity.

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

Genting Malaysia Berhad is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. You can see what analysts are predicting for Genting Malaysia Berhad in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We've already covered Genting Malaysia Berhad's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). Arguably the TSR is a more complete return calculation because it accounts for the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested), along with the hypothetical value of any discounted capital that have been offered to shareholders. Dividends have been really beneficial for Genting Malaysia Berhad shareholders, and that cash payout explains why its total shareholder loss of 13%, over the last 3 years, isn't as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

Genting Malaysia Berhad shareholders are down 6.0% for the year, but the market itself is up 0.4%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 5% per year over half a decade. 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 Genting Malaysia Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Genting Malaysia Berhad you should be aware of.

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