It might be of some concern to shareholders to see the Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNDX) share price down 29% in the last month. But the silver lining is the stock is up over five years. Unfortunately its return of 85% is below the market return of 105%.

In light of the stock dropping 6.8% in the past week, we want to investigate the longer term story, and see if fundamentals have been the driver of the company's positive five-year return.

Syndax Pharmaceuticals isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. 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.

In the last 5 years Syndax Pharmaceuticals saw its revenue grow at 6.2% per year. That's a pretty good long term growth rate. While the share price has gained 13% per year for five years, that's hardly amazing considering the market also rose. Arguably, that means, the market (previously) expected stronger growth from the company.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

Syndax Pharmaceuticals is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. Given we have quite a good number of analyst forecasts, it might be well worth checking out this free chart depicting consensus estimates.

A Different Perspective

Investors in Syndax Pharmaceuticals had a tough year, with a total loss of 13%, against a market gain of about 34%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 13% 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 Syndax Pharmaceuticals better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Syndax Pharmaceuticals , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Of course Syndax Pharmaceuticals may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American 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.