Further weakness as Adaptive Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADPT) drops 5.8% this week, taking five-year losses to 78%

It is a pleasure to report that the Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ADPT) is up 53% in the last quarter. But will that heal all the wounds inflicted over 5 years of declines? Unlikely. Five years have seen the share price descend precipitously, down a full 78%. While the recent increase might be a green shoot, we're certainly hesitant to rejoice. The real question is whether the business can leave its past behind and improve itself over the years ahead.

With the stock having lost 5.8% in the past week, it's worth taking a look at business performance and seeing if there's any red flags.

View our latest analysis for Adaptive Biotechnologies

Adaptive Biotechnologies 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. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

In the last half decade, Adaptive Biotechnologies saw its revenue increase by 16% per year. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. So it's not at all clear to us why the share price sunk 12% throughout that time. You'd have to assume the market is worried that profits won't come soon enough. We'd recommend carefully checking for indications of future growth - and balance sheet threats - before considering a purchase.

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

Take a more thorough look at Adaptive Biotechnologies' financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that Adaptive Biotechnologies shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 29% over one year. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 12% per year over five years. This makes us a little wary, but the business might have turned around its fortunes. 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. Even so, be aware that Adaptive Biotechnologies is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

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.