Investors in Gooch & Housego (LON:GHH) have unfortunately lost 68% over the last five years

Generally speaking long term investing is the way to go. But along the way some stocks are going to perform badly. To wit, the Gooch & Housego PLC (LON:GHH) share price managed to fall 69% over five long years. That is extremely sub-optimal, to say the least. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 59% over the last twelve months. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 24% in the last 90 days.

Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

Check out our latest analysis for Gooch & Housego

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Looking back five years, both Gooch & Housego's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 11% per year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 21% annual reduction in the share price. This implies that the market was previously too optimistic about the stock.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Gooch & Housego's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Gooch & Housego shareholders are down 58% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 1.7%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Gooch & Housego better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Gooch & Housego is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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

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