Quercus TFI (WSE:QRS) investors are up 12% in the past week, but earnings have declined over the last year

These days it's easy to simply buy an index fund, and your returns should (roughly) match the market. But if you pick the right individual stocks, you could make more than that. For example, the Quercus TFI S.A. (WSE:QRS) share price is up 29% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market return of around 23% (not including dividends). So that should have shareholders smiling. However, the stock hasn't done so well in the longer term, with the stock only up 6.0% in three years.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Quercus TFI

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. 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, Quercus TFI actually saw its earnings per share drop 48%.

So we don't think that investors are paying too much attention to EPS. Since the change in EPS doesn't seem to correlate with the change in share price, it's worth taking a look at other metrics.

We haven't seen Quercus TFI increase dividend payments yet, so the yield probably hasn't helped drive the share higher. Revenue actually dropped 10% over last year. Usually that correlates with a lower share price, but let's face it, the gyrations of the market are sometimes only as clear as mud.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

If you are thinking of buying or selling Quercus TFI stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

Quercus TFI shareholders have received returns of 29% over twelve months (even including dividends), which isn't far from the general market return. Most would be happy with a gain, and it helps that the year's return is actually better than the average return over five years, which was 5%. Even if the share price growth slows down from here, there's a good chance that this is business worth watching in the long term. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Quercus TFI better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Quercus TFI (1 is concerning) that you should be aware of.

We will like Quercus TFI better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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