Buying shares in the best businesses can build meaningful wealth for you and your family. While not every stock performs well, when investors win, they can win big. For example, the The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) share price is up a whopping 423% in the last half decade, a handsome return for long term holders. And this is just one example of the epic gains achieved by some long term investors. We note the stock price is up 6.8% in the last seven days.

Since it's been a strong week for Trade Desk shareholders, let's have a look at trend of the longer term fundamentals.

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Over half a decade, Trade Desk managed to grow its earnings per share at 18% a year. This EPS growth is lower than the 39% average annual increase in the share price. This suggests that market participants hold the company in higher regard, these days. That's not necessarily surprising considering the five-year track record of earnings growth. This favorable sentiment is reflected in its (fairly optimistic) P/E ratio of 205.78.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

We know that Trade Desk has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? This free report showing analyst revenue forecasts should help you figure out if the EPS growth can be sustained.

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that Trade Desk shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 31% over the last year. Having said that, the five-year TSR of 39% a year, is even better. 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. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Trade Desk that you should be aware of.

We will like Trade Desk better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) 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 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.