The one-year returns have been notable for Cheetah Mobile (NYSE:CMCM) shareholders despite underlying losses increasing

The last three months have been tough on Cheetah Mobile Inc. (NYSE:CMCM) shareholders, who have seen the share price decline a rather worrying 36%. But looking back over the last year, the returns have actually been rather pleasing! To wit, it had solidly beat the market, up 82%.

After a strong gain in the past week, it's worth seeing if longer term returns have been driven by improving fundamentals.

View our latest analysis for Cheetah Mobile

Cheetah Mobile wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last year Cheetah Mobile saw its revenue shrink by 21%. The stock is up 82% in that time, a fine performance given the revenue drop. We can correlate the share price rise with revenue or profit growth, but it seems the market had previously expected weaker results, and sentiment around the stock is improving.

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 Cheetah Mobile's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Cheetah Mobile has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 82% in the last twelve months. That certainly beats the loss of about 10% per year over the last half decade. This makes us a little wary, but the business might have turned around its fortunes. 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. Even so, be aware that Cheetah Mobile is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of undervalued small caps 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 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.