As an investor its worth striving to ensure your overall portfolio beats the market average. But the risk of stock picking is that you will likely buy under-performing companies. Unfortunately, that's been the case for longer term Sensteed Hi-Tech Group (SZSE:000981) shareholders, since the share price is down 38% in the last three years, falling well short of the market decline of around 27%. Even worse, it's down 8.9% in about a month, which isn't fun at all.

Since Sensteed Hi-Tech Group has shed CN¥789m from its value in the past 7 days, let's see if the longer term decline has been driven by the business' economics.

Because Sensteed Hi-Tech Group made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Over the last three years, Sensteed Hi-Tech Group's revenue dropped 5.7% per year. That's not what investors generally want to see. The stock has disappointed holders over the last three years, falling 11%, annualized. And with no profits, and weak revenue, are you surprised? Of course, sentiment could become too negative, and the company may actually be making progress to profitability.

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

You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Sensteed Hi-Tech Group shareholders are down 20% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 15%. 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. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 5% over the last half decade. 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. Shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of undervalued companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com