Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride Materials Co.,Ltd (SZSE:002915) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 17% in the last quarter. But that doesn't help the fact that the three year return is less impressive. After all, the share price is down 45% in the last three years, significantly under-performing the market.

On a more encouraging note the company has added CN¥365m to its market cap in just the last 7 days, so let's see if we can determine what's driven the three-year loss for shareholders.

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 Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd saw its share price decline over the three years in which its EPS also dropped, falling to a loss. Due to the loss, it's not easy to use EPS as a reliable guide to the business. But it's safe to say we'd generally expect the share price to be lower as a result!

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

This free interactive report on Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 4.9% in the last year, Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd shareholders lost 4.4%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 0.4%, each year, over five years. 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

But note: Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd 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.