Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) delivers shareholders favorable 18% CAGR over 3 years, surging 12% in the last week alone

By buying an index fund, you can roughly match the market return with ease. But if you pick the right individual stocks, you could make more than that. Just take a look at Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ:ATRO), which is up 63%, over three years, soundly beating the market return of 12% (not including dividends). However, more recent returns haven't been as impressive as that, with the stock returning just 27% in the last year.

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

See our latest analysis for Astronics

Astronics wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire 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 the last three years Astronics has grown its revenue at 20% annually. That's well above most pre-profit companies. While the compound gain of 18% per year over three years is pretty good, you might argue it doesn't fully reflect the strong revenue growth. If that's the case, now might be the time to take a close look at Astronics. A window of opportunity may reveal itself with time, if the business can trend to profitability.

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

This free interactive report on Astronics' balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that Astronics shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 27% over the last year. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 4% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Even so, be aware that Astronics is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

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 American 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.