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The simplest way to benefit from a rising market is to buy an index fund. Active investors aim to buy stocks that vastly outperform the market – but in the process, they risk under-performance. Unfortunately the Wilhelmina International, Inc. (NASDAQ:WHLM) share price slid 30% over twelve months. That falls noticeably short of the market return of around 1.4%. Even if shareholders bought some time ago, they wouldn’t be particularly happy: the stock is down 25% in three years. Furthermore, it’s down 13% in about a quarter. That’s not much fun for holders. We note that the company has reported results fairly recently; and the market is hardly delighted. You can check out the latest numbers in our company report.
See our latest analysis for Wilhelmina International
To quote Buffett, ‘Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace…’ 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 unfortunate twelve months during which the Wilhelmina International share price fell, it actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 40%. Of course, the situation might betray previous over-optimism about growth. It’s surprising to see the share price fall so much, despite the improved EPS. So it’s easy to justify a look at some other metrics.
Wilhelmina International managed to grow revenue over the last year, which is usually a real positive. Since the fundamental metrics don’t readily explain the share price drop, there might be an opportunity if the market has overreacted.
You can see how revenue and earnings have changed over time in the image below, (click on the chart to see cashflow).
This free interactive report on Wilhelmina International’s balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
A Different Perspective
While the broader market gained around 1.4% in the last year, Wilhelmina International shareholders lost 30%. 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. Unfortunately, last year’s performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 1.3% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. Before spending more time on Wilhelmina International it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.