Investors in T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:TMUS) have made a impressive return of 148% over the past five years

When you buy shares in a company, it's worth keeping in mind the possibility that it could fail, and you could lose your money. But on the bright side, you can make far more than 100% on a really good stock. For instance, the price of T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) stock is up an impressive 148% over the last five years. Meanwhile the share price is 1.5% higher than it was a week ago.

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.

Check out our latest analysis for T-Mobile US

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

During five years of share price growth, T-Mobile US actually saw its EPS drop 14% per year.

This means it's unlikely the market is judging the company based on earnings growth. Because earnings per share don't seem to match up with the share price, we'll take a look at other metrics instead.

In contrast revenue growth of 18% per year is probably viewed as evidence that T-Mobile US is growing, a real positive. In that case, the company may be sacrificing current earnings per share to drive growth.

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

T-Mobile US 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 T-Mobile US stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst consensus estimates for future profits.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that T-Mobile US has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 33% in the last twelve months. That's better than the annualised return of 20% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand T-Mobile US better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that T-Mobile US is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

We will like T-Mobile US better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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