Every investor on earth makes bad calls sometimes. But you want to avoid the really big losses like the plague. So spare a thought for the long term shareholders of C&S Paper Co.,Ltd (SZSE:002511); the share price is down a whopping 74% in the last three years. That'd be enough to cause even the strongest minds some disquiet. And more recent buyers are having a tough time too, with a drop of 39% in the last year. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 19% in the last 90 days.

After losing 4.4% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

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 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.

During the three years that the share price fell, C&S PaperLtd's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 30% each year. This fall in EPS isn't far from the rate of share price decline, which was 36% per year. So it seems like sentiment towards the stock hasn't changed all that much over time. In this case, it seems that the EPS is guiding the share price.

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

Dive deeper into C&S PaperLtd's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of C&S PaperLtd's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 14% in the twelve months, C&S PaperLtd shareholders did even worse, losing 38% (even including dividends). 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. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 7% 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 C&S PaperLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that C&S PaperLtd is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com