QuinStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:QNST) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 27% in the last quarter. But that cannot eclipse the less-than-impressive returns over the last three years. In fact, the share price is down 26% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return.

Although the past week has been more reassuring for shareholders, they're still in the red over the last three years, so let's see if the underlying business has been responsible for the decline.

QuinStreet isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Over three years, QuinStreet grew revenue at 0.8% per year. Given it's losing money in pursuit of growth, we are not really impressed with that. Indeed, the stock dropped 8% over the last three years. If revenue growth accelerates, we might see the share price bounce. But ultimately the key will be whether the company can become profitability.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

QuinStreet shareholders are up 11% for the year. But that return falls short of the market. The silver lining is that the gain was actually better than the average annual return of 5% per year over five year. This could indicate that the company is winning over new investors, as it pursues its strategy. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand QuinStreet better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that QuinStreet is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

QuinStreet is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

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.