It's easy to match the overall market return by buying an index fund. Active investors aim to buy stocks that vastly outperform the market - but in the process, they risk under-performance. Investors in Jiusheng Electric Co., Ltd. (SZSE:301082) have tasted that bitter downside in the last year, as the share price dropped 15%. That falls noticeably short of the market decline of around 0.4%. We wouldn't rush to judgement on Jiusheng Electric because we don't have a long term history to look at. And the share price decline continued over the last week, dropping some 12%.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Jiusheng Electric

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

Unhappily, Jiusheng Electric had to report a 35% decline in EPS over the last year. The share price fall of 15% isn't as bad as the reduction in earnings per share. So despite the weak per-share profits, some investors are probably relieved the situation wasn't more difficult.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

Dive deeper into Jiusheng Electric's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Jiusheng Electric's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

While Jiusheng Electric shareholders are down 14% for the year (even including dividends), the market itself is up 0.4%. While the aim is to do better than that, it's worth recalling that even great long-term investments sometimes underperform for a year or more. Putting aside the last twelve months, it's good to see the share price has rebounded by 5.8%, in the last ninety days. This could just be a bounce because the selling was too aggressive, but fingers crossed it's the start of a new trend. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Jiusheng Electric better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Jiusheng Electric (1 is a bit concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course Jiusheng Electric may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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