Even after rising 71% this past week, Fingerprint Cards (STO:FING B) shareholders are still down 88% over the past three years

Fingerprint Cards AB (publ) (STO:FING B) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 101% in the last month. But that is meagre solace in the face of the shocking decline over three years. In that time the share price has melted like a snowball in the desert, down 88%. Arguably, the recent bounce is to be expected after such a bad drop. Of course the real question is whether the business can sustain a turnaround. While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isn't as important as health and happiness.

While the last three years has been tough for Fingerprint Cards shareholders, this past week has shown signs of promise. So let's look at the longer term fundamentals and see if they've been the driver of the negative returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Fingerprint Cards

Given that Fingerprint Cards didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

Over the last three years, Fingerprint Cards' revenue dropped 22% per year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. And as you might expect the share price has been weak too, dropping at a rate of 23% per year. Never forget that loss making companies with falling revenue can and do cause losses for everyday investors. It's worth remembering that investors call buying a steeply falling share price 'catching a falling knife' because it is a dangerous pass time.

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

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

Fingerprint Cards shareholders are down 36% for the year, but the market itself is up 9.3%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 13% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Fingerprint Cards better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Fingerprint Cards (1 can't be ignored) that you should be aware of.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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