Passive investing in index funds can generate returns that roughly match the overall market. But investors can boost returns by picking market-beating companies to own shares in. For example, the Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp. (SHSE:600699) share price is up 24% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market decline of around 4.8% (not including dividends). That's a solid performance by our standards! Zooming out, the stock is actually down 12% in the last three years.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Ningbo Joyson Electronic

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' 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 last year Ningbo Joyson Electronic grew its earnings per share, moving from a loss to a profit.

The result looks like a strong improvement to us, so we're not surprised the market likes the growth. Inflection points like this can be a great time to take a closer look at a company.

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

We know that Ningbo Joyson Electronic has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? You could check out this free report showing analyst revenue forecasts.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that Ningbo Joyson Electronic shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 25% over one year. And that does include the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 5%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. 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 instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Ningbo Joyson Electronic (1 is a bit unpleasant) that you should be aware of.

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.