Investors in Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) from five years ago are still down 25%, even after 12% gain this past week

While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ABUS) share price has gained 17% in the last three months. But over the last half decade, the stock has not performed well. In fact, the share price is down 25%, which falls well short of the return you could get by buying an index fund.

On a more encouraging note the company has added US$57m to its market cap in just the last 7 days, so let's see if we can determine what's driven the five-year loss for shareholders.

View our latest analysis for Arbutus Biopharma

Given that Arbutus Biopharma didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. 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.

In the last half decade, Arbutus Biopharma saw its revenue increase by 38% per year. That's better than most loss-making companies. Shareholders are no doubt disappointed with the loss of 5%, each year, in that time. So you might argue the Arbutus Biopharma should get more credit for its rather impressive revenue growth over the period. If that's the case, now might be the smart time to take a close look at it.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. You can see what analysts are predicting for Arbutus Biopharma in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

A Different Perspective

Arbutus Biopharma shareholders gained a total return of 0.7% during the year. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. But at least that's still a gain! Over five years the TSR has been a reduction of 5% per year, over five years. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. 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 example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Arbutus Biopharma (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

But note: Arbutus Biopharma 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.