While Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) shareholders have made 266% in 5 years, increasing losses might now be front of mind as stock sheds 8.2% this week

The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But on the bright side, you can make far more than 100% on a really good stock. Long term Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) shareholders would be well aware of this, since the stock is up 266% in five years. Then again, the 9.7% share price decline hasn't been so fun for shareholders. We note that the broader market is down 0.1% in the last month, and this may have impacted Natera's share price.

Although Natera has shed US$1.1b from its market cap this week, let's take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they've driven returns.

View our latest analysis for Natera

Given that Natera 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. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope to see good revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

For the last half decade, Natera can boast revenue growth at a rate of 30% per year. Even measured against other revenue-focussed companies, that's a good result. So it's not entirely surprising that the share price reflected this performance by increasing at a rate of 30% per year, in that time. So it seems likely that buyers have paid attention to the strong revenue growth. Natera seems like a high growth stock - so growth investors might want to add it to their watchlist.

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

Natera is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think Natera will earn in the future (free analyst consensus estimates)

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Natera has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 115% in the last twelve months. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 30% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Natera better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks, for example - Natera has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of undervalued companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com