One simple way to benefit from a rising market is to buy an index fund. By comparison, an individual stock is unlikely to match market returns - and could well fall short. The Founder Securities Co., Ltd. (SHSE:601901) is such an example; over three years its share price is down 23% versus a marketdecline of 22%.

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 Founder Securities

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. 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).

Although the share price is down over three years, Founder Securities actually managed to grow EPS by 15% per year in that time. This is quite a puzzle, and suggests there might be something temporarily buoying the share price. Alternatively, growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past.

Since the change in EPS doesn't seem to correlate with the change in share price, it's worth taking a look at other metrics.

The modest 0.2% dividend yield is unlikely to be guiding the market view of the stock. The company has kept revenue pretty healthy over the last three years, so we doubt that explains the falling share price. There doesn't seem to be any clear correlation between the fundamental business metrics and the share price. That could mean that the stock was previously overrated, or it could spell opportunity now.

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

We know that Founder Securities has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? If you are thinking of buying or selling Founder Securities stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Founder Securities has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 7.3% in the last twelve months. And that does include the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 4%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. Given the share price momentum remains strong, it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock, lest you miss an opportunity. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Founder Securities better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Founder Securities (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

But note: Founder Securities may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

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