The 4.7% return this week takes Glaukos' (NYSE:GKOS) shareholders one-year gains to 66%

If you want to compound wealth in the stock market, you can do so by buying an index fund. But investors can boost returns by picking market-beating companies to own shares in. To wit, the Glaukos Corporation (NYSE:GKOS) share price is 66% higher than it was a year ago, much better than the market return of around 21% (not including dividends) in the same period. That's a solid performance by our standards! Also impressive, the stock is up 44% over three years, making long term shareholders happy, too.

The past week has proven to be lucrative for Glaukos investors, so let's see if fundamentals drove the company's one-year performance.

View our latest analysis for Glaukos

Glaukos 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. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Glaukos 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 66%. That's not a standout result, but it is solid - much like the level of revenue growth. It could be worth keeping an eye on this one, especially if growth accelerates.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

Glaukos is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. If you are thinking of buying or selling Glaukos stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst consensus estimates for future profits.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Glaukos has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 66% in the last twelve months. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 9% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. 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. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Glaukos that you should be aware of.

We will like Glaukos better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com