Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But the main game is to find enough winners to more than offset the losers So we wouldn't blame long term GuiZhouYongJi Printing Co.,Ltd (SHSE:603058) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 24% over a half decade. Even worse, it's down 18% in about a month, which isn't fun at all. But this could be related to poor market conditions -- stocks are down 13% in the same time.

Since GuiZhouYongJi PrintingLtd has shed CN¥441m from its value in the past 7 days, let's see if the longer term decline has been driven by the business' economics.

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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 five years of share price growth, GuiZhouYongJi PrintingLtd moved from a loss to profitability. That would generally be considered a positive, so we are surprised to see the share price is down. Other metrics may better explain the share price move.

In contrast to the share price, revenue has actually increased by 11% a year in the five year period. So it seems one might have to take closer look at the fundamentals to understand why the share price languishes. After all, there may be an opportunity.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

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

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

Investors should note that there's a difference between GuiZhouYongJi PrintingLtd's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price change, which we've covered above. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Its history of dividend payouts mean that GuiZhouYongJi PrintingLtd's TSR, which was a 14% drop over the last 5 years, was not as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

While it's certainly disappointing to see that GuiZhouYongJi PrintingLtd shares lost 4.2% throughout the year, that wasn't as bad as the market loss of 25%. Given the total loss of 3% per year over five years, it seems returns have deteriorated in the last twelve months. While some investors do well specializing in buying companies that are struggling (but nonetheless undervalued), don't forget that Buffett said that 'turnarounds seldom turn'. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand GuiZhouYongJi PrintingLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for GuiZhouYongJi PrintingLtd you should be aware of.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

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.