If You Had Bought XAC Automation's (GTSM:5490) Shares Five Years Ago You Would Be Down 68%

Statistically speaking, long term investing is a profitable endeavour. But along the way some stocks are going to perform badly. For example the XAC Automation Corporation (GTSM:5490) share price dropped 68% over five years. That is extremely sub-optimal, to say the least. Even worse, it's down 10% in about a month, which isn't fun at all.

View our latest analysis for XAC Automation

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

During the five years over which the share price declined, XAC Automation's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 11% each year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 21% annual reduction in the share price. This implies that the market was previously too optimistic about the stock. The less favorable sentiment is reflected in its current P/E ratio of 7.37.

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

This free interactive report on XAC Automation's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, XAC Automation's TSR for the last 5 years was -60%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

XAC Automation shareholders are down 17% for the year (even including dividends), but the market itself is up 38%. 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. However, the loss over the last year isn't as bad as the 10% per annum loss investors have suffered over the last half decade. We would want clear information suggesting the company will grow, before taking the view that the share price will stabilize. 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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for XAC Automation (of which 1 shouldn't be ignored!) you should know about.

Of course XAC Automation may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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