LivaNova (NASDAQ:LIVN) pulls back 3.7% this week, but still delivers shareholders decent 36% return over 1 year

These days it's easy to simply buy an index fund, and your returns should (roughly) match the market. But if you pick the right individual stocks, you could make more than that. For example, the LivaNova PLC (NASDAQ:LIVN) share price is up 36% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market return of around 28% (not including dividends). If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! Unfortunately the longer term returns are not so good, with the stock falling 27% in the last three years.

While this past week has detracted from the company's one-year return, let's look at the recent trends of the underlying business and see if the gains have been in alignment.

View our latest analysis for LivaNova

LivaNova isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one would hope for good top-line growth to make up for the lack of earnings.

LivaNova grew its revenue by 13% last year. That's not great considering the company is losing money. The modest growth is probably largely reflected in the share price, which is up 36%. While not a huge gain tht seems pretty reasonable. It could be worth keeping an eye on this one, especially if growth accelerates.

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

Balance sheet strength is crucial. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time.

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that LivaNova shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 36% over the last year. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 3% per year over five years. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. You could get a better understanding of LivaNova's growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

But note: LivaNova may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

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.