Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) shareholders are up 17% this past week, but still in the red over the last three years

It's nice to see the Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYS) share price up 17% in a week. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last three years have been disappointing. Tragically, the share price declined 51% in that time. Some might say the recent bounce is to be expected after such a bad drop. Perhaps the company has turned over a new leaf.

The recent uptick of 17% could be a positive sign of things to come, so let's take a look at historical fundamentals.

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Amtech Systems isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. 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.

Over the last three years, Amtech Systems' revenue dropped 1.3% per year. That is not a good result. With revenue in decline, and profit but a dream, we can understand why the share price has been declining at 15% per year. Having said that, if growth is coming in the future, now may be the low ebb for the company. We'd be pretty wary of this one until it makes a profit, because we don't specialize in finding turnaround situations.

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

It's probably worth noting we've seen significant insider buying in the last quarter, which we consider a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. This free report showing analyst forecasts should help you form a view on Amtech Systems

A Different Perspective

Investors in Amtech Systems had a tough year, with a total loss of 25%, against a market gain of about 13%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 4% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Amtech Systems .

Amtech Systems is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of small cap companies at attractive valuations which insiders have been 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.