The last three months have been tough on Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600895) shareholders, who have seen the share price decline a rather worrying 36%. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last year have been pleasing. To wit, it had solidly beat the market, up 42%.

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

View our latest analysis for Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development was able to grow EPS by 35% in the last twelve months. This EPS growth is reasonably close to the 42% increase in the share price. That suggests that the market sentiment around the company hasn't changed much over that time. We don't think its coincidental that the share price is growing at a similar rate to the earnings per share.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

We know that Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? If you're interested, you could check this free report showing consensus revenue forecasts.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 44% in the last twelve months. And that does include the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 2%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. 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 Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those can't be ignored...

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 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.