When you buy shares in a company, it's worth keeping in mind the possibility that it could fail, and you could lose your money. But on a lighter note, a good company can see its share price rise well over 100%. For instance, the price of Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) stock is up an impressive 164% over the last five years. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 29% gain in the last three months. But this move may well have been assisted by the reasonably buoyant market (up 15% in 90 days).

Since it's been a strong week for Altair Engineering shareholders, let's have a look at trend of the longer term fundamentals.

Because Altair Engineering made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

For the last half decade, Altair Engineering can boast revenue growth at a rate of 8.6% per year. That's a pretty good long term growth rate. We'd argue this growth has been reflected in the share price which has climbed at a rate of 21% per year over in that time. Given that the business has made good progress on the top line, it would be worth taking a look at the growth trend. Accelerating growth can be a sign of an inflection point - and could indicate profits lie ahead. Worth watching 100%

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

Altair Engineering is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. 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

It's good to see that Altair Engineering has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 58% in the last twelve months. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 21%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. If you would like to research Altair Engineering in more detail then you might want to take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in the company.

But note: Altair Engineering may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

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.