Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But every investor is virtually certain to have both over-performing and under-performing stocks. At this point some shareholders may be questioning their investment in Heilongjiang Interchina Water Treatment Co.,Ltd (SHSE:600187), since the last five years saw the share price fall 38%. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 17% in the last 90 days.

Given the past week has been tough on shareholders, let's investigate the fundamentals and see what we can learn.

See our latest analysis for Heilongjiang Interchina Water TreatmentLtd

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Over five years Heilongjiang Interchina Water TreatmentLtd's earnings per share dropped significantly, falling to a loss, with the share price also lower. Since the company has fallen to a loss making position, it's hard to compare the change in EPS with the share price change. But we would generally expect a lower price, given the situation.

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

Dive deeper into Heilongjiang Interchina Water TreatmentLtd's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Heilongjiang Interchina Water TreatmentLtd's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

Heilongjiang Interchina Water TreatmentLtd provided a TSR of 16% over the year. That's fairly close to the broader market return. The silver lining is that the share price is up in the short term, which flies in the face of the annualised loss of 7% over the last five years. While 'turnarounds seldom turn' there are green shoots for Heilongjiang Interchina Water TreatmentLtd. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Heilongjiang Interchina Water TreatmentLtd that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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.