Buying shares in the best businesses can build meaningful wealth for you and your family. And we've seen some truly amazing gains over the years. Just think about the savvy investors who held Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) shares for the last five years, while they gained 721%. And this is just one example of the epic gains achieved by some long term investors. It's also good to see the share price up 40% over the last quarter. This could be related to the recent financial results, released recently - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report. We love happy stories like this one. The company should be really proud of that performance!

Since it's been a strong week for Saia shareholders, let's have a look at trend of the longer term fundamentals.

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. 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 half a decade, Saia managed to grow its earnings per share at 27% a year. This EPS growth is lower than the 52% average annual increase in the share price. So it's fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it did five years ago. That's not necessarily surprising considering the five-year track record of earnings growth.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

We're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Saia has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 87% in the last twelve months. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 52% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. Given the share price momentum remains strong, it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock, lest you miss an opportunity. Before spending more time on Saia it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.

But note: Saia 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 American 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.