It's easy to match the overall market return by buying an index fund. While individual stocks can be big winners, plenty more fail to generate satisfactory returns. Unfortunately the Nanhua Futures Co., Ltd. (SHSE:603093) share price slid 25% over twelve months. That contrasts poorly with the market decline of 11%. We wouldn't rush to judgement on Nanhua Futures because we don't have a long term history to look at. On top of that, the share price is down 5.8% in the last week. But this could be related to the soft market, which is down about 2.7% in the same period.

After losing 5.8% 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 Nanhua Futures

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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).

During the unfortunate twelve months during which the Nanhua Futures share price fell, it actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 126%. Of course, the situation might betray previous over-optimism about growth.

It's surprising to see the share price fall so much, despite the improved EPS. So it's well worth checking out some other metrics, too.

With a low yield of 0.4% we doubt that the dividend influences the share price much. Nanhua Futures managed to grow revenue over the last year, which is usually a real positive. Since we can't easily explain the share price movement based on these metrics, it might be worth considering how market sentiment has changed towards the stock.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

If you are thinking of buying or selling Nanhua Futures stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

Nanhua Futures shareholders are down 25% for the year (even including dividends), even worse than the market loss of 11%. There's no doubt that's a disappointment, but the stock may well have fared better in a stronger market. Putting aside the last twelve months, it's good to see the share price has rebounded by 0.8%, in the last ninety days. Let's just hope this isn't the widely-feared 'dead cat bounce' (which would indicate further declines to come). Before deciding if you like the current share price, check how Nanhua Futures scores on these 3 valuation metrics.

We will like Nanhua Futures better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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.