The one-year shareholder returns and company earnings persist lower as Janus International Group (NYSE:JBI) stock falls a further 7.5% in past week

It's easy to match the overall market return by buying an index fund. Active investors aim to buy stocks that vastly outperform the market - but in the process, they risk under-performance. Unfortunately the Janus International Group, Inc. (NYSE:JBI) share price slid 49% over twelve months. That's disappointing when you consider the market returned 25%. We note that it has not been easy for shareholders over three years, either; the share price is down 37% in that time. Furthermore, it's down 31% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

If the past week is anything to go by, investor sentiment for Janus International Group isn't positive, so let's see if there's a mismatch between fundamentals and the share price.

View our latest analysis for Janus International Group

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Unhappily, Janus International Group had to report a 20% decline in EPS over the last year. This reduction in EPS is not as bad as the 49% share price fall. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, a year ago. The P/E ratio of 9.33 also points to the negative market sentiment.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

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

A Different Perspective

Investors in Janus International Group had a tough year, with a total loss of 49%, against a market gain of about 25%. 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. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 5% per year over five years. 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 Janus International Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Janus International Group (of which 1 is potentially serious!) you should know about.

Of course Janus International Group 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 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.