Every investor on earth makes bad calls sometimes. But really big losses can really drag down an overall portfolio. So take a moment to sympathize with the long term shareholders of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS), who have seen the share price tank a massive 72% over a three year period. That'd be enough to cause even the strongest minds some disquiet. Unfortunately the share price momentum is still quite negative, with prices down 24% in thirty days.

After losing 13% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

Given that Cerus didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope to see good revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Over three years, Cerus grew revenue at 11% per year. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. So it's hard to believe the share price decline of 20% per year is due to the revenue. It could be that the losses were much larger than expected. This is exactly why investors need to diversify - even when a loss making company grows revenue, it can fail to deliver for shareholders.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

This free interactive report on Cerus' balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Cerus provided a TSR of 15% over the last twelve months. But that was short of the market average. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 11% endured over half a decade. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Cerus that you should be aware of before investing here.

We will like Cerus better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) 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 American exchanges.

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