The three-year shareholder returns and company earnings persist lower as Sify Technologies (NASDAQ:SIFY) stock falls a further 12% in past week

It is doubtless a positive to see that the Sify Technologies Limited (NASDAQ:SIFY) share price has gained some 32% in the last three months. But that is meagre solace in the face of the shocking decline over three years. Indeed, the share price is down a whopping 88% in the last three years. So it sure is nice to see a bit of an improvement. Only time will tell if the company can sustain the turnaround. We really feel for shareholders in this scenario. It's a good reminder of the importance of diversification, and it's worth keeping in mind there's more to life than money, anyway.

After losing 12% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

View our latest analysis for Sify Technologies

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

During the three years that the share price fell, Sify Technologies' earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 58% each year. This fall in EPS isn't far from the rate of share price decline, which was 50% per year. That suggests that the market sentiment around the company hasn't changed much over that time, despite the disappointment. Rather, the share price has approximately tracked EPS growth.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

This free interactive report on Sify Technologies' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Sify Technologies shareholders are down 71% for the year, but the market itself is up 32%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 11% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Sify Technologies better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Sify Technologies is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those can't be ignored...

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.