Even after rising 12% this past week, AKVA group (OB:AKVA) shareholders are still down 31% over the past three years

AKVA group ASA (OB:AKVA) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 27% in the last month. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last three years have been less than pleasing. Truth be told the share price declined 33% in three years and that return, Dear Reader, falls short of what you could have got from passive investing with an index fund.

On a more encouraging note the company has added kr233m to its market cap in just the last 7 days, so let's see if we can determine what's driven the three-year loss for shareholders.

See our latest analysis for AKVA group

Because AKVA group 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. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong 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.

Over three years, AKVA group grew revenue at 3.6% per year. Given it's losing money in pursuit of growth, we are not really impressed with that. Indeed, the stock dropped 10% over the last three years. If revenue growth accelerates, we might see the share price bounce. But ultimately the key will be whether the company can become profitability.

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

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that AKVA group has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 24% in the last twelve months. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 0.2% per year over five years. 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand AKVA group better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for AKVA group that you should be aware of before investing here.

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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