Long term investing works well, but it doesn't always work for each individual stock. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. Imagine if you held Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) for half a decade as the share price tanked 75%. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 33% over the last twelve months. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 23% in the last 90 days.

While the stock has risen 9.1% in the past week but long term shareholders are still in the red, let's see what the fundamentals can tell us.

Check out our latest analysis for Core Laboratories

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...' 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).

During five years of share price growth, Core Laboratories moved from a loss to profitability. That would generally be considered a positive, so we are surprised to see the share price is down. Other metrics may better explain the share price move.

We don't think that the 0.2% is big factor in the share price, since it's quite small, as dividends go. Arguably, the revenue drop of 9.3% a year for half a decade suggests that the company can't grow in the long term. That could explain the weak share price.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

It is of course excellent to see how Core Laboratories has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. If you are thinking of buying or selling Core Laboratories stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 20% in the last year, Core Laboratories shareholders lost 33% (even including dividends). However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 12% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Core Laboratories better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Core Laboratories is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

But note: Core Laboratories may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

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