Would Shareholders Who Purchased Catalyst Biosciences' (NASDAQ:CBIO) Stock Five Years Be Happy With The Share price Today?

We're definitely into long term investing, but some companies are simply bad investments over any time frame. We don't wish catastrophic capital loss on anyone. Anyone who held Catalyst Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIO) for five years would be nursing their metaphorical wounds since the share price dropped 79% in that time. The last week also saw the share price slip down another 7.1%. This could be related to the recent financial results - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report.

See our latest analysis for Catalyst Biosciences

Given that Catalyst Biosciences 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. 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.

Over five years, Catalyst Biosciences grew its revenue at 81% 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. It could be that the stock was over-hyped before. 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).

This free interactive report on Catalyst Biosciences' balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Catalyst Biosciences provided a TSR of 11% over the last twelve months. But that return falls short of the market. But at least that's still a gain! Over five years the TSR has been a reduction of 12% per year, over five years. So this might be a sign the business has turned its fortunes around. 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. Take risks, for example - Catalyst Biosciences has 5 warning signs (and 3 which don't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies 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 US exchanges.

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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. 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.
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