Shareholders in Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) are in the red if they invested three years ago

This month, we saw the Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC) up an impressive 39%. But the last three years have seen a terrible decline. To wit, the share price sky-dived 71% in that time. So it's about time shareholders saw some gains. But the more important question is whether the underlying business can justify a higher price still.

Since shareholders are down over the longer term, lets look at the underlying fundamentals over the that time and see if they've been consistent with returns.

View our latest analysis for Bausch Health Companies

Bausch Health Companies 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. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

In the last three years, Bausch Health Companies saw its revenue grow by 2.4% per year, compound. Given it's losing money in pursuit of growth, we are not really impressed with that. But the share price crash at 19% per year does seem a bit harsh! While we're definitely wary of the stock, after that kind of performance, it could be an over-reaction. Before considering a purchase, take a look at the losses the company is racking up.

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

You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

A Different Perspective

Bausch Health Companies shareholders are up 3.2% for the year. But that return falls short of the market. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 9% endured over half a decade. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Bausch Health Companies better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Bausch Health Companies is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

We will like Bausch Health Companies better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) with considerable, recent, insider 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.