If You Had Bought KVH Industries' (NASDAQ:KVHI) Shares Three Years Ago You Would Be Down 22%
Many investors define successful investing as beating the market average over the long term. But its virtually certain that sometimes you will buy stocks that fall short of the market average returns. We regret to report that long term KVH Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KVHI) shareholders have had that experience, with the share price dropping 22% in three years, versus a market return of about 39%. It's up 4.6% in the last seven days.
View our latest analysis for KVH Industries
Given that KVH Industries didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.
Over the last three years, KVH Industries' revenue dropped 1.8% per year. That's not what investors generally want to see. The annual decline of 7% per year in that period has clearly disappointed holders. That makes sense given the lack of either profits or revenue growth. However, in this kind of situation you can sometimes find opportunity, where sentiment is negative but the company is actually making good progress.
You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
Take a more thorough look at KVH Industries' financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.
A Different Perspective
KVH Industries shareholders are down 3.3% for the year, but the market itself is up 21%. 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 2% 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand KVH Industries better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that KVH Industries is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...
Of course KVH Industries may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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