The worst result, after buying shares in a company (assuming no leverage), would be if you lose all the money you put in. But on the bright side, you can make far more than 100% on a really good stock. Long term Zhejiang Dun'an Artificial Environment Co., Ltd (SZSE:002011) shareholders would be well aware of this, since the stock is up 155% in five years. Unfortunately, though, the stock has dropped 4.4% over a week.

While this past week has detracted from the company's five-year return, let's look at the recent trends of the underlying business and see if the gains have been in alignment.

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. 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.

During the last half decade, Zhejiang Dun'an Artificial Environment became profitable. That kind of transition can be an inflection point that justifies a strong share price gain, just as we have seen here.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

It is of course excellent to see how Zhejiang Dun'an Artificial Environment has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

A Different Perspective

Although it hurts that Zhejiang Dun'an Artificial Environment returned a loss of 5.3% in the last twelve months, the broader market was actually worse, returning a loss of 8.0%. Of course, the long term returns are far more important and the good news is that over five years, the stock has returned 21% for each year. In the best case scenario the last year is just a temporary blip on the journey to a brighter future. Before forming an opinion on Zhejiang Dun'an Artificial Environment you might want to consider these 3 valuation metrics.

We will like Zhejiang Dun'an Artificial Environment better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider 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.