The Xiangyang Automobile Bearing Co., Ltd. (SZSE:000678) share price has had a bad week, falling 14%. But that shouldn't obscure the pleasing returns achieved by shareholders over the last three years. To wit, the share price did better than an index fund, climbing 36% during that period.

Although Xiangyang Automobile Bearing has shed CN¥510m from its market cap this week, let's take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they've driven returns.

Xiangyang Automobile Bearing isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. 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 Xiangyang Automobile Bearing has grown its revenue at 3.5% annually. That's not a very high growth rate considering it doesn't make profits. The modest growth is probably broadly reflected in the share price, which is up 11%, per year over 3 years. The real question is when the business will generate profits, and how quickly they will grow. Given the market doesn't seem too excited about the stock, a closer look at the financial data could pay off, if you can find indications of a stronger growth trend in the future.

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

Take a more thorough look at Xiangyang Automobile Bearing's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

Xiangyang Automobile Bearing shareholders gained a total return of 0.9% during the year. But that return falls short of the market. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 1.2% endured over half a decade. So this might be a sign the business has turned its fortunes around. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Xiangyang Automobile Bearing better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Xiangyang Automobile Bearing that you should be aware of.

We will like Xiangyang Automobile Bearing better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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.