Such Is Life: How AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) Shareholders Saw Their Shares Drop 60%

AC Immune SA (NASDAQ:ACIU) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 19% in the last month. But that isn't much consolation to those who have suffered through the declines of the last year. Like an arid lake in a warming world, shareholder value has evaporated, with the share price down 60% in that time. So the bounce should be viewed in that context. Arguably, the fall was overdone.

See our latest analysis for AC Immune

AC Immune isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

In the last year AC Immune saw its revenue grow by 322%. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. In contrast the share price is down 60% over twelve months. Yes, the market can be a fickle mistress. Typically a growth stock like this will be volatile, with some shareholders concerned about the red ink on the bottom line (that is, the losses). Generally speaking investors would consider a stock like this less risky once it turns a profit. But when do you think that will happen?

Depicted in the graphic below, you'll see revenue and earnings over time. If you want more detail, you can click on the chart itself.

If you are thinking of buying or selling AC Immune stock, you should check out this FREEdetailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

While AC Immune shareholders are down 60% for the year, the market itself is up 2.6%. While the aim is to do better than that, it's worth recalling that even great long-term investments sometimes underperform for a year or more. With the stock down 60% over the last three months, the market doesn't seem to believe that the company has solved all its problems. Given the relatively short history of this stock, we'd remain pretty wary until we see some strong business performance. You might want to assess this data-rich visualization of its earnings, revenue and cash flow.

We will like AC Immune better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this freelist of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.