If you want to compound wealth in the stock market, you can do so by buying an index fund. But one can do better than that by picking better than average stocks (as part of a diversified portfolio). For example, the Sylvamo Corporation (NYSE:SLVM) share price is up 53% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market decline of around 18% (not including dividends). If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! We'll need to follow Sylvamo for a while to get a better sense of its share price trend, since it hasn't been listed for particularly long.

After a strong gain in the past week, it's worth seeing if longer term returns have been driven by improving fundamentals.

See our latest analysis for Sylvamo

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During the last year Sylvamo grew its earnings per share (EPS) by 44%. We note that the earnings per share growth isn't far from the share price growth (of 53%). This makes us think the market hasn't really changed its sentiment around the company, in the last year. We don't think its coincidental that the share price is growing at a similar rate to the earnings per share.

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

We know that Sylvamo has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? You could check out this free report showing analyst revenue forecasts.

A Different Perspective

Sylvamo shareholders should be happy with the total gain of 55% over the last twelve months, including dividends. A substantial portion of that gain has come in the last three months, with the stock up 19% in that time. Demand for the stock from multiple parties is pushing the price higher; it could be that word is getting out about its virtues as a business. 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. Even so, be aware that Sylvamo is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course Sylvamo 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 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.