What Type Of Returns Would Performant Financial's(NASDAQ:PFMT) Shareholders Have Earned If They Purchased Their SharesThree Years Ago?

Performant Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:PFMT) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 104% in the last quarter. But that cannot eclipse the less-than-impressive returns over the last three years. After all, the share price is down 44% in the last three years, significantly under-performing the market.

View our latest analysis for Performant Financial

Given that Performant Financial 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. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Over three years, Performant Financial grew revenue at 4.4% per year. Given it's losing money in pursuit of growth, we are not really impressed with that. Indeed, the stock dropped 13% over the last three years. Shareholders will probably be hoping growth picks up soon. But the real upside for shareholders will be if the company can start generating profits.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

A Different Perspective

Performant Financial's TSR for the year was broadly in line with the market average, at 32%. The silver lining is that the share price is up in the short term, which flies in the face of the annualised loss of 1.7% over the last five years. While 'turnarounds seldom turn' there are green shoots for Performant Financial. 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. Take risks, for example - Performant Financial has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is potentially serious) we think you should know about.

We will like Performant Financial better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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

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