Investors one-year returns in United States Cellular (NYSE:USM) have not grown faster than the company's underlying earnings growth

It hasn't been the best quarter for United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) shareholders, since the share price has fallen 21% in that time. But looking back over the last year, the returns have actually been rather pleasing! After all, the share price is up a market-beating 32% in that time.

Since the long term performance has been good but there's been a recent pullback of 20%, let's check if the fundamentals match the share price.

View our latest analysis for United States Cellular

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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).

United States Cellular went from making a loss to reporting a profit, in the last year.

When a company is just on the edge of profitability it can be well worth considering other metrics in order to more precisely gauge growth (and therefore understand share price movements).

Unfortunately United States Cellular's fell 6.3% over twelve months. So the fundamental metrics don't provide an obvious explanation for the share price gain.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

We know that United States Cellular has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think United States Cellular will earn in the future (free profit forecasts).

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that United States Cellular has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 32% in the last twelve months. That certainly beats the loss of about 5% per year over the last half decade. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand United States Cellular better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for United States Cellular that you should be aware of before investing here.

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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.