Advertisement

WCT Holdings Berhad (KLSE:WCT) investors are sitting on a loss of 70% if they invested five years ago

WCT Holdings Berhad (KLSE:WCT) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 23% in the last month. But don't envy holders -- looking back over 5 years the returns have been really bad. In that time the share price has delivered a rude shock to holders, who find themselves down 71% after a long stretch. So we're hesitant to put much weight behind the short term increase. However, in the best case scenario (far from fait accompli), this improved performance might be sustained.

So let's have a look and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

View our latest analysis for WCT Holdings Berhad

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' 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.

WCT Holdings Berhad became profitable within the last five years. Most would consider that to be a good thing, so it's counter-intuitive to see the share price declining. Other metrics might give us a better handle on how its value is changing over time.

The modest 1.2% dividend yield is unlikely to be guiding the market view of the stock. Arguably, the revenue drop of 3.1% a year for half a decade suggests that the company can't grow in the long term. That could explain the weak share price.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

earnings-and-revenue-growth
earnings-and-revenue-growth

We know that WCT Holdings Berhad has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? This free report showing analyst forecasts should help you form a view on WCT Holdings Berhad

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 0.3% in the last year, WCT Holdings Berhad shareholders lost 16% (even including dividends). 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. However, the loss over the last year isn't as bad as the 11% per annum loss investors have suffered over the last half decade. We'd need to see some sustained improvements in the key metrics before we could muster much enthusiasm. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for WCT Holdings Berhad you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit unpleasant.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

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

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here