Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) sheds US$1.2b, company earnings and investor returns have been trending downwards for past year

It's easy to match the overall market return by buying an index fund. When you buy individual stocks, you can make higher profits, but you also face the risk of under-performance. For example, the Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) share price is down 20% in the last year. That falls noticeably short of the market return of around 15%. Match Group may have better days ahead, of course; we've only looked at a one year period. The share price has dropped 23% in three months.

Given the past week has been tough on shareholders, let's investigate the fundamentals and see what we can learn.

View our latest analysis for Match Group

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Unfortunately Match Group reported an EPS drop of 12% for the last year. The share price decline of 20% is actually more than the EPS drop. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, a year ago. Of course, with a P/E ratio of 61.12, the market remains optimistic.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here.

A Different Perspective

While Match Group shareholders are down 20% for the year, the market itself is up 15%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. It's worth noting that the last three months did the real damage, with a 23% decline. So it seems like some holders have been dumping the stock of late - and that's not bullish. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Match Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks, for example - Match Group has 4 warning signs (and 1 which is significant) we think you should know about.

But note: Match Group 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 US 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.