Jiangsu Tongguang Electronic Wire & Cable Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300265) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 25% in the last month. But that is minimal compensation for the share price under-performance over the last year. After all, the share price is down 18% in the last year, significantly under-performing the market.

The recent uptick of 22% could be a positive sign of things to come, so let's take a look at historical fundamentals.

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Unfortunately Jiangsu Tongguang Electronic Wire & Cable reported an EPS drop of 26% for the last year. This fall in the EPS is significantly worse than the 18% the share price fall. So the market may not be too worried about the EPS figure, at the moment -- or it may have expected earnings to drop faster. Indeed, with a P/E ratio of 47.93 there is obviously some real optimism that earnings will bounce back.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Jiangsu Tongguang Electronic Wire & Cable's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 10% in the twelve months, Jiangsu Tongguang Electronic Wire & Cable shareholders did even worse, losing 18% (even including dividends). However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 1.3% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Jiangsu Tongguang Electronic Wire & Cable better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Jiangsu Tongguang Electronic Wire & Cable you should be aware of.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.

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.