Investors in Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) have made a decent return of 37% over the past year

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It might be of some concern to shareholders to see the Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) share price down 13% in the last month. But that doesn't change the reality that over twelve months the stock has done really well. After all, the share price is up a market-beating 35% in that time.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

See our latest analysis for Warner Music Group

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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 Warner Music Group grew its earnings per share, moving from a loss to a profit.

When a company has just transitioned to profitability, earnings per share growth is not always the best way to look at the share price action.

We doubt the modest 1.4% dividend yield is doing much to support the share price. However the year on year revenue growth of 19% would help. We do see some companies suppress earnings in order to accelerate revenue growth.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

earnings-and-revenue-growth
earnings-and-revenue-growth

Warner Music Group is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think Warner Music Group will earn in the future (free analyst consensus estimates)

A Different Perspective

Warner Music Group boasts a total shareholder return of 37% for the last year (that includes the dividends) . A substantial portion of that gain has come in the last three months, with the stock up 8.3% in that time. This suggests the company is continuing to win over new investors. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Warner Music Group (1 is potentially serious!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US 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.

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