This week we saw the Ciwen Media Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:002343) share price climb by 10%. But if you look at the last five years the returns have not been good. After all, the share price is down 43% in that time, significantly under-performing the market.

While the last five years has been tough for Ciwen MediaLtd shareholders, this past week has shown signs of promise. So let's look at the longer term fundamentals and see if they've been the driver of the negative returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Ciwen MediaLtd

We don't think that Ciwen MediaLtd's modest trailing twelve month profit has the market's full attention at the moment. We think revenue is probably a better guide. As a general rule, we think this kind of company is more comparable to loss-making stocks, since the actual profit is so low. It would be hard to believe in a more profitable future without growing revenues.

In the last five years Ciwen MediaLtd saw its revenue shrink by 31% per year. That puts it in an unattractive cohort, to put it mildly. It seems pretty reasonable to us that the share price dipped 7% per year in that time. We doubt many shareholders are delighted with this share price performance. Risk averse investors probably wouldn't like this one much.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

We know that Ciwen MediaLtd has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? You can see what analysts are predicting for Ciwen MediaLtd in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Ciwen MediaLtd has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 35% in the last twelve months. That certainly beats the loss of about 7% per year over the last half decade. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Ciwen MediaLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Ciwen MediaLtd .

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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.