The past five years for Fluence (ASX:FLC) investors has not been profitable

Statistically speaking, long term investing is a profitable endeavour. But no-one is immune from buying too high. For example the Fluence Corporation Limited (ASX:FLC) share price dropped 73% over five years. We certainly feel for shareholders who bought near the top. And it's not just long term holders hurting, because the stock is down 53% in the last year. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 39% in the last 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.

View our latest analysis for Fluence

Fluence isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

In the last half decade, Fluence saw its revenue increase by 8.4% per year. That's a pretty good rate for a long time period. So the stock price fall of 12% per year seems pretty steep. The truth is that the growth might be below expectations, and investors are probably worried about the continual losses.

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

It's good to see that there was some significant insider buying in the last three months. That's a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Fluence's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We've already covered Fluence's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). Arguably the TSR is a more complete return calculation because it accounts for the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested), along with the hypothetical value of any discounted capital that have been offered to shareholders. Fluence hasn't been paying dividends, but its TSR of -69% exceeds its share price return of -73%, implying it has either spun-off a business, or raised capital at a discount; thereby providing additional value to shareholders.

A Different Perspective

Fluence shareholders are down 47% for the year, but the market itself is up 7.1%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 11% over the last half decade. 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. 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. Take risks, for example - Fluence has 3 warning signs (and 2 which don't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

Fluence is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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