UroGen Pharma (NASDAQ:URGN shareholders incur further losses as stock declines 21% this week, taking five-year losses to 61%

Statistically speaking, long term investing is a profitable endeavour. But no-one is immune from buying too high. To wit, the UroGen Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ:URGN) share price managed to fall 61% over five long years. That's not a lot of fun for true believers. Unfortunately the share price momentum is still quite negative, with prices down 24% in thirty days.

With the stock having lost 21% in the past week, it's worth taking a look at business performance and seeing if there's any red flags.

See our latest analysis for UroGen Pharma

UroGen Pharma 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, UroGen Pharma saw its revenue increase by 62% per year. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. Unfortunately for shareholders the share price has dropped 10% per year - disappointing considering the growth. This could mean high expectations have been tempered, potentially because investors are looking to the bottom line. If you think the company can keep up its revenue growth, you'd have to consider the possibility that there's an opportunity here.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

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

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that UroGen Pharma shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 54% over the last year. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 10% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. 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. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for UroGen Pharma (1 is a bit unpleasant) that you should be aware of.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.

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

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.