In order to justify the effort of selecting individual stocks, it's worth striving to beat the returns from a market index fund. But every investor is virtually certain to have both over-performing and under-performing stocks. So we wouldn't blame long term Zhejiang Yilida Ventilator Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:002686) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 43% over a half decade. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 37% in the last year. More recently, the share price has dropped a further 21% in a month.

After losing 15% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

Zhejiang Yilida VentilatorLtd became profitable within the last five years. That would generally be considered a positive, so we are surprised to see the share price is down. Other metrics might give us a better handle on how its value is changing over time.

The modest 0.5% dividend yield is unlikely to be guiding the market view of the stock. In contrast to the share price, revenue has actually increased by 4.4% 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 image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

Take a more thorough look at Zhejiang Yilida VentilatorLtd's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 12% in the twelve months, Zhejiang Yilida VentilatorLtd shareholders did even worse, losing 37% (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 7% 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. Before forming an opinion on Zhejiang Yilida VentilatorLtd you might want to consider these 3 valuation metrics.

But note: Zhejiang Yilida VentilatorLtd 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 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.