If you love investing in stocks you're bound to buy some losers. But the last three years have been particularly tough on longer term Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) shareholders. Sadly for them, the share price is down 65% in that time. Furthermore, it's down 33% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

Since Azenta has shed US$160m from its value in the past 7 days, let's see if the longer term decline has been driven by the business' economics.

Because Azenta made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope to see good revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one would hope for good top-line growth to make up for the lack of earnings.

Over three years, Azenta grew revenue at 19% per year. That's a pretty good rate of top-line growth. That contrasts with the weak share price, which has fallen 18% compounded, over three years. To be frank we're surprised to see revenue growth and share price growth diverge so strongly. So this is one stock that might be worth investigating further, or even adding to your watchlist.

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

This free interactive report on Azenta's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Azenta shareholders are down 12% for the year, but the market itself is up 43%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 0.7% per year over five years. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. Before spending more time on Azenta it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.

Of course Azenta 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 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.