We believe investing is smart because history shows that stock markets go higher in the long term. But if you choose that path, you're going to buy some stocks that fall short of the market. Unfortunately for shareholders, while theCuriosityStream Inc.(NASDAQ:CURI) share price is up 14% in the last year, that falls short of the market return. Note that businesses generally develop over the long term, so the returns over the last year might not reflect a long term trend.

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.

View our latest analysis for CuriosityStream

CuriosityStream isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

CuriosityStream grew its revenue by 46% last year. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. Let's face it the 14% share price gain in that time is underwhelming compared to the growth. When revenue spikes but the share price doesn't we can't help wondering if the market is missing something. It could be that the stock was previously over-hyped, or that losses are causing concern for the market, but this could be an opportunity.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).NasdaqCM:CURI Earnings and Revenue Growth October 25th 2021

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. If you are thinking of buying or selling CuriosityStream stock, you should check out thisfreereport showing analyst profit forecasts.A Different Perspective

We're happy to report that CuriosityStream are up 14% over the year. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return of around 32%. The stock trailed the market by 8.6% in that time, testament to the power of passive investing. It might be that investors are more concerned about the business lately due to some fundamental change (or else the share price simply got ahead of itself, previously). While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted2 warning signs for CuriosityStreamyou should know about.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love thisfreelist of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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

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.

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