The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But on a lighter note, a good company can see its share price rise well over 100%. One great example is CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ:CYBR) which saw its share price drive 165% higher over five years. It's also good to see the share price up 15% over the last quarter. But this move may well have been assisted by the reasonably buoyant market (up 8.7% in 90 days).

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.

We don't think that CyberArk Software's modest trailing twelve month profit has the market's full attention at the moment. We think revenue is probably a better guide. Generally speaking, we'd consider a stock like this alongside loss-making companies, simply because the quantum of the profit is so low. It would be hard to believe in a more profitable future without growing revenues.

For the last half decade, CyberArk Software can boast revenue growth at a rate of 16% per year. Even measured against other revenue-focussed companies, that's a good result. So it's not entirely surprising that the share price reflected this performance by increasing at a rate of 22% per year, in that time. So it seems likely that buyers have paid attention to the strong revenue growth. CyberArk Software seems like a high growth stock - so growth investors might want to add it to their 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).

CyberArk Software is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. If you are thinking of buying or selling CyberArk Software stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst consensus estimates for future profits.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that CyberArk Software shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 49% over one year. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 22% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks, for example - CyberArk Software has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of undervalued small caps that insiders are 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.