It's easy to match the overall market return by buying an index fund. When you buy individual stocks, you can make higher profits, but you also face the risk of under-performance. For example, the Shenzhen Weiguang Biological Products Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002880) share price is down 22% in the last year. That's well below the market return of 6.1%. Even if shareholders bought some time ago, they wouldn't be particularly happy: the stock is down 18% in three years. More recently, the share price has dropped a further 9.6% in a month. We do note, however, that the broader market is down 7.7% in that period, and this may have weighed on the share price.

With the stock having lost 7.2% in the past week, it's worth taking a look at business performance and seeing if there's any red flags.

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. 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.

During the unfortunate twelve months during which the Shenzhen Weiguang Biological Products share price fell, it actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 28%. Of course, the situation might betray previous over-optimism about growth.

The divergence between the EPS and the share price is quite notable, during the year. But we might find some different metrics explain the share price movements better.

Shenzhen Weiguang Biological Products' revenue is actually up 18% over the last year. Since the fundamental metrics don't readily explain the share price drop, there might be an opportunity if the market has overreacted.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

We know that Shenzhen Weiguang Biological Products has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? If you are thinking of buying or selling Shenzhen Weiguang Biological Products stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

A Different Perspective

Investors in Shenzhen Weiguang Biological Products had a tough year, with a total loss of 22%, against a market gain of about 6.1%. 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 1.4%, 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. Before deciding if you like the current share price, check how Shenzhen Weiguang Biological Products scores on these 3 valuation metrics.

Of course Shenzhen Weiguang Biological Products may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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.