Even the best stock pickers will make plenty of bad investments. Anyone who held Zhejiang Yongtai Technology Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:002326) over the last year knows what a loser feels like. To wit the share price is down 62% in that time. Longer term investors have fared much better, since the share price is up 15% in three years. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 30% in the last 90 days. Of course, this share price action may well have been influenced by the 17% decline in the broader market, throughout the period.

If the past week is anything to go by, investor sentiment for Zhejiang Yongtai TechnologyLtd isn't positive, so let's see if there's a mismatch between fundamentals and the share price.

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Zhejiang Yongtai TechnologyLtd fell to a loss making position during the year. Buyers no doubt think it's a temporary situation, but those with a nose for quality have low tolerance for losses. We hope for shareholders' sake that the company becomes profitable again soon.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Zhejiang Yongtai TechnologyLtd's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Zhejiang Yongtai TechnologyLtd shareholders are down 62% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 26%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 7% per year over half a decade. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Zhejiang Yongtai TechnologyLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Zhejiang Yongtai TechnologyLtd you should be aware of, and 3 of them are a bit unpleasant.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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.