Investing in stocks inevitably means buying into some companies that perform poorly. But long term Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTLA) shareholders have had a particularly rough ride in the last three year. Regrettably, they have had to cope with a 66% drop in the share price over that period. And over the last year the share price fell 26%, so we doubt many shareholders are delighted. Unfortunately the share price momentum is still quite negative, with prices down 14% in thirty 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.

Intellia Therapeutics isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

In the last three years, Intellia Therapeutics saw its revenue grow by 2.3% per year, compound. That's not a very high growth rate considering it doesn't make profits. It's likely this weak growth has contributed to an annualised return of 18% for the last three years. When a stock falls hard like this, some investors like to add the company to a watchlist (in case the business recovers, longer term). After all, growing a business isn't easy, and the process will not always be smooth.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

Intellia Therapeutics is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think Intellia Therapeutics will earn in the future (free analyst consensus estimates)

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 29% in the last year, Intellia Therapeutics shareholders lost 26%. 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. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 8%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. 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 - Intellia Therapeutics has 3 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

Of course Intellia Therapeutics 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.