It certainly might concern Shenzhen Rapoo Technology Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002577) shareholders to see the share price down 36% in just 30 days. On the other hand the returns over the last half decade have not been bad. It's good to see the share price is up 24% in that time, better than its market return of 23%.

Although Shenzhen Rapoo Technology has shed CN¥868m from its market cap this week, let's take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they've driven returns.

Given that Shenzhen Rapoo Technology only made minimal earnings in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue to gauge its business development. As a general rule, we think this kind of company is more comparable to loss-making stocks, since the actual profit is so low. For shareholders to have confidence a company will grow profits significantly, it must grow revenue.

Over the last half decade Shenzhen Rapoo Technology's revenue has actually been trending down at about 0.5% per year. Despite the lack of revenue growth, the stock has returned a respectable 4%, compound, over that time. To us that suggests that there probably isn't a lot of correlation between the past revenue performance and the share price, but a closer look at analyst forecasts and the bottom line may well explain a lot.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Shenzhen Rapoo Technology's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

Although it hurts that Shenzhen Rapoo Technology returned a loss of 8.8% in the last twelve months, the broader market was actually worse, returning a loss of 26%. Of course, the long term returns are far more important and the good news is that over five years, the stock has returned 4% for each year. In the best case scenario the last year is just a temporary blip on the journey to a brighter future. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Shenzhen Rapoo Technology better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Shenzhen Rapoo Technology .

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.

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.