While it may not be enough for some shareholders, we think it is good to see the Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ADPT) share price up 17% in a single quarter. But the last three years have seen a terrible decline. To wit, the share price sky-dived 79% in that time. So it's about time shareholders saw some gains. The thing to think about is whether the business has really turned around.

After losing 8.2% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

See our latest analysis for Adaptive Biotechnologies

Because Adaptive Biotechnologies made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

In the last three years, Adaptive Biotechnologies saw its revenue grow by 28% per year, compound. That is faster than most pre-profit companies. So why has the share priced crashed 22% per year, in the same time? The share price makes us wonder if there is an issue with profitability. Ultimately, revenue growth doesn't amount to much if the business can't scale well. If the company is low on cash, it may have to raise capital soon.

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

This free interactive report on Adaptive Biotechnologies' balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

The last twelve months weren't great for Adaptive Biotechnologies shares, which performed worse than the market, costing holders 78%. The market shed around 16%, no doubt weighing on the stock price. Shareholders have lost 22% per year over the last three years, so the share price drop has become steeper, over the last year; a potential symptom of as yet unsolved challenges. Although Baron Rothschild famously said to "buy when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own", he also focusses on high quality stocks with solid prospects. 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. To that end, you should be aware of the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Adaptive Biotechnologies .

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US 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.