Investors in Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC) from three years ago are still down 89%, even after 3.7% gain this past week

Teladoc Health, Inc. (NYSE:TDOC) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 22% in the last month. But the last three years have seen a terrible decline. In that time the share price has melted like a snowball in the desert, down 89%. Arguably, the recent bounce is to be expected after such a bad drop. Of course the real question is whether the business can sustain a turnaround. We really hope anyone holding through that price crash has a diversified portfolio. Even when you lose money, you don't have to lose the lesson.

The recent uptick of 3.7% could be a positive sign of things to come, so let's take a look at historical fundamentals.

View our latest analysis for Teladoc Health

Because Teladoc Health made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

Over three years, Teladoc Health grew revenue at 28% per year. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. So on the face of it we're really surprised to see the share price down 24% a year in the same time period. The share price makes us wonder if there is an issue with profitability. Sometimes fast revenue growth doesn't lead to profits. If the company is low on cash, it may have to raise capital soon.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

Teladoc Health is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

Investors in Teladoc Health had a tough year, with a total loss of 7.5%, against a market gain of about 27%. 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, longer term shareholders are suffering worse, given the loss of 9% doled out over the last five years. We'd need to see some sustained improvements in the key metrics before we could muster much enthusiasm. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Teladoc Health better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Teladoc Health you should be aware of.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are 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.