The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But if you pick the right stock, you can make a lot more than 100%. For example, the GDS Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:GDS) share price had more than doubled in just one year - up 122%. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 101% gain in the last three months. On the other hand, longer term shareholders have had a tougher run, with the stock falling 64% in three years.

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.

GDS Holdings 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 it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last year GDS Holdings saw its revenue grow by 9.1%. That's not great considering the company is losing money. In contrast, the share price took off during the year, gaining 122%. The business will need a lot more growth to justify that increase. We're not so sure that revenue growth is driving the market optimism about the stock.

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

GDS Holdings is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. Given we have quite a good number of analyst forecasts, it might be well worth checking out this free chart depicting consensus estimates.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that GDS Holdings shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 122% over one year. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 8% per year over five years. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. 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. Even so, be aware that GDS Holdings is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.

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.