The 14% return this week takes Aquestive Therapeutics' (NASDAQ:AQST) shareholders three-year gains to 105%

The worst result, after buying shares in a company (assuming no leverage), would be if you lose all the money you put in. But when you pick a company that is really flourishing, you can make more than 100%. To wit, the Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) share price has flown 105% in the last three years. That sort of return is as solid as granite. It's even up 14% in the last week.

On the back of a solid 7-day performance, let's check what role the company's fundamentals have played in driving long term shareholder returns.

We've discovered 2 warning signs about Aquestive Therapeutics. View them for free.

Aquestive Therapeutics isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. 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 the last three years Aquestive Therapeutics has grown its revenue at 5.4% annually. Considering the company is losing money, we think that rate of revenue growth is uninspiring. In comparison, the share price rise of 27% per year over the last three years is pretty impressive. We'd need to take a closer look at the revenue and profit trends to see whether the improvements might justify that sort of increase. It seems likely that the market is pretty optimistic about Aquestive Therapeutics, given it is losing money.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

If you are thinking of buying or selling Aquestive Therapeutics stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

Investors in Aquestive Therapeutics had a tough year, with a total loss of 29%, against a market gain of about 9.3%. 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, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 6% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. 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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Aquestive Therapeutics (of which 1 doesn't sit too well with us!) you should know about.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of undervalued small caps 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.