While Silicon Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:SLAB) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 11% in the last quarter. But at least the stock is up over the last five years. In that time, it is up 25%, which isn't bad, but is below the market return of 98%.

Although Silicon Laboratories has shed US$177m from its market cap this week, let's take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they've driven returns.

Given that Silicon Laboratories didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope to see good revenue growth. 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, Silicon Laboratories can boast revenue growth at a rate of 5.9% per year. That's not a very high growth rate considering the bottom line. Like its revenue, its share price gained over the period. The increase of 4% per year probably reflects the modest revenue growth. It seems likely that we'll have to zoom in on the data, including profits, to understand if there is an opportunity here.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

Silicon Laboratories is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. If you are thinking of buying or selling Silicon Laboratories stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst consensus estimates for future profits.

A Different Perspective

Investors in Silicon Laboratories had a tough year, with a total loss of 13%, against a market gain of about 27%. 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 4% per year over half a decade. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. If you would like to research Silicon Laboratories 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: Silicon Laboratories 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.