The five-year decline in earnings might be taking its toll on Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol SAD (ELI:SLBEN) shareholders as stock falls 13% over the past week

While Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol, SAD (ELI:SLBEN) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 18% in the last quarter. Looking further back, the stock has generated good profits over five years. After all, the share price is up a market-beating 47% in that time.

Since the long term performance has been good but there's been a recent pullback of 13%, let's check if the fundamentals match the share price.

View our latest analysis for Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol SAD

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just 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 five years of share price growth, Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol SAD moved from a loss to profitability. That's generally thought to be a genuine positive, so we would expect to see an increasing share price.

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

Dive deeper into Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol SAD's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol SAD's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol SAD shareholders are down 23% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 5.1%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 8%, each year, over five years. 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. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 5 warning signs for Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol SAD (2 are significant) that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.

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