By buying an index fund, investors can approximate the average market return. But many of us dare to dream of bigger returns, and build a portfolio ourselves. Just take a look at Dalian Sunasia Tourism Holding CO.,LTD (SHSE:600593), which is up 60%, over three years, soundly beating the market decline of 17% (not including dividends). On the other hand, the returns haven't been quite so good recently, with shareholders up just 39%.

The past week has proven to be lucrative for Dalian Sunasia Tourism HoldingLTD investors, so let's see if fundamentals drove the company's three-year performance.

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During three years of share price growth, Dalian Sunasia Tourism HoldingLTD moved from a loss to profitability. That would generally be considered a positive, so we'd expect the share price to be up.

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

Dive deeper into Dalian Sunasia Tourism HoldingLTD's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Dalian Sunasia Tourism HoldingLTD's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Dalian Sunasia Tourism HoldingLTD has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 39% in the last twelve months. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 7% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. This makes us a little wary, but the business might have turned around its fortunes. 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 instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Dalian Sunasia Tourism HoldingLTD that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can 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.