Interested In Sientra Inc (NASDAQ:SIEN)? Here’s What Its Recent Track-Record Looks Like
After looking at Sientra Inc’s (NASDAQ:SIEN) latest earnings announcement (30 September 2017), I found it useful to revisit the company’s performance in the past couple of years and assess this against the most recent figures. As a long-term investor I tend to focus on earnings trend, rather than a single number at one point in time. Also, comparing it against an industry benchmark to understand whether it outperformed, or is simply riding an industry wave, is a crucial aspect. Below is a brief commentary on my key takeaways. See our latest analysis for Sientra
Commentary On SIEN’s Past Performance
For the most up-to-date info, I use the ‘latest twelve-month’ data, which either annualizes the most recent 6-month earnings update, or in some cases, the most recent annual report is already the latest available financial data. This allows me to assess various companies on a similar basis, using new information. Sientra’s latest earnings -$54.3M, which, in comparison to the prior year’s level, has become less negative. Given that these figures may be fairly short-term, I’ve created an annualized five-year value for SIEN’s net income, which stands at -$29.9M. This means that, Sientra has historically performed better than recently, even though it seems like earnings are now heading back towards to right direction again.
We can further assess Sientra’s loss by looking at what has been happening in the industry on top of within the company. Firstly, I want to quickly look into the line items. Revenue growth over the last few years has been negative at -4.99%. The key to profitability here is to make sure the company’s cost growth is well-managed. Eyeballing growth from a sector-level, the US medical equipment industry has been growing its average earnings by double-digit 18.95% over the previous twelve months, and a less exciting 9.07% over the past couple of years. This means that any tailwind the industry is deriving benefit from, Sientra has not been able to realize the gains unlike its industry peers.
What does this mean?
Though Sientra’s past data is helpful, it is only one aspect of my investment thesis. With companies that are currently loss-making, it is always difficult to envisage what will happen in the future and when. The most insightful step is to assess company-specific issues Sientra may be facing and whether management guidance has steadily been met in the past. I recommend you continue to research Sientra to get a more holistic view of the stock by looking at:
1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for SIEN’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for SIEN’s outlook.
2. Financial Health: Is SIEN’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.
