EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) rallies 11% this week, taking three-year gains to 84%

By buying an index fund, you can roughly match the market return with ease. But many of us dare to dream of bigger returns, and build a portfolio ourselves. Just take a look at EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW), which is up 84%, over three years, soundly beating the market return of 10% (not including dividends). However, more recent returns haven't been as impressive as that, with the stock returning just 2.7% in the last year.

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

See our latest analysis for EZCORP

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.

During three years of share price growth, EZCORP moved from a loss to profitability. So we would expect a higher share price over the period.

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

We know that EZCORP has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? Take a more thorough look at EZCORP's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

EZCORP shareholders are up 2.7% for the year. But that return falls short of the market. But at least that's still a gain! Over five years the TSR has been a reduction of 1.0% per year, over five years. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. Most investors take the time to check the data on insider transactions. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

We will like EZCORP 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 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.