First Majestic Silver (TSE:FR) dips 16% this week as increasing losses might not be inspiring confidence among its investors
If you love investing in stocks you're bound to buy some losers. But the long term shareholders of First Majestic Silver Corp. (TSE:FR) have had an unfortunate run in the last three years. So they might be feeling emotional about the 57% share price collapse, in that time. The more recent news is of little comfort, with the share price down 48% in a year. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 21% in the last 90 days. We note that the company has reported results fairly recently; and the market is hardly delighted. You can check out the latest numbers in our company report.
If the past week is anything to go by, investor sentiment for First Majestic Silver isn't positive, so let's see if there's a mismatch between fundamentals and the share price.
View our latest analysis for First Majestic Silver
Because First Majestic Silver 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. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.
Over three years, First Majestic Silver grew revenue at 18% per year. That's a pretty good rate of top-line growth. So some shareholders would be frustrated with the compound loss of 16% per year. To be frank we're surprised to see revenue growth and share price growth diverge so strongly. So this is one stock that might be worth investigating further, or even adding to your watchlist.
The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
It's good to see that there was some significant insider buying in the last three months. That's a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. If you are thinking of buying or selling First Majestic Silver stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.
A Different Perspective
Investors in First Majestic Silver had a tough year, with a total loss of 48% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 2.4%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 1.0% 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. 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 2 warning signs for First Majestic Silver that you should be aware of.
First Majestic Silver is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Canadian 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.
