Highlight Communications AG (ETR:HLG) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 47% in the last quarter. But that can’t change the reality that over the longer term (five years), the returns have been really quite dismal. The share price has failed to impress anyone , down a sizable 68% during that time. So we’re not so sure if the recent bounce should be celebrated. Of course, this could be the start of a turnaround.
With that in mind, it’s worth seeing if the company’s underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.
Check out our latest analysis for Highlight Communications
Given that Highlight Communications didn’t make a profit in the last twelve months, we’ll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. When a company doesn’t make profits, we’d generally hope to see good revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one would hope for good top-line growth to make up for the lack of earnings.
Over half a decade Highlight Communications reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 2.5% for each year. That’s not what investors generally want to see. The share price decline of 11% compound, over five years, is understandable given the company is losing money, and revenue is moving in the wrong direction. The chance of imminent investor enthusiasm for this stock seems slimmer than Louise Brooks. Ultimately, it may be worth watching – should revenue pick up, the share price might follow.
You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
Take a more thorough look at Highlight Communications’ financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.
Highlight Communications shareholders are down 44% for the year, but the market itself is up 16%. 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 11% 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. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we’ve discovered 3 warning signs for Highlight Communications (1 can’t be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
