The last three months have been tough on Shanghai Film Co., Ltd. (SHSE:601595) shareholders, who have seen the share price decline a rather worrying 31%. But that doesn't detract from the splendid returns of the last year. During that period, the share price soared a full 108%. So some might not be surprised to see the price retrace some. More important, going forward, is how the business itself is going.

Although Shanghai Film has shed CN¥475m from its market cap this week, let's take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they've driven returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Shanghai Film

Shanghai Film wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Shanghai Film actually shrunk its revenue over the last year, with a reduction of 8.3%. We're a little surprised to see the share price pop 108% in the last year. This is a good example of how buyers can push up prices even before the fundamental metrics show much growth. It's quite likely the revenue fall was already priced in, anyway.

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

You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Shanghai Film has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 108% in the last twelve months. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 13% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Shanghai Film better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Shanghai Film is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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