Vasta Platform (NASDAQ:VSTA) investors are sitting on a loss of 31% if they invested a year ago
Passive investing in an index fund is a good way to ensure your own returns roughly match the overall market. Active investors aim to buy stocks that vastly outperform the market - but in the process, they risk under-performance. For example, the Vasta Platform Limited (NASDAQ:VSTA) share price is down 31% in the last year. That's well below the market return of 4.2%. Vasta Platform may have better days ahead, of course; we've only looked at a one year period. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 14% 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.
Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.
Check out our latest analysis for Vasta Platform
Vasta Platform isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.
Vasta Platform grew its revenue by 23% over the last year. That's definitely a respectable growth rate. Unfortunately that wasn't good enough to stop the share price dropping 31%. This implies the market was expecting better growth. However, that's in the past now, and it's the future that matters most.
You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
Take a more thorough look at Vasta Platform's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.
A Different Perspective
Given that the market gained 4.2% in the last year, Vasta Platform shareholders might be miffed that they lost 31%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. With the stock down 14% over the last three months, the market doesn't seem to believe that the company has solved all its problems. Basically, most investors should be wary of buying into a poor-performing stock, unless the business itself has clearly improved. You could get a better understanding of Vasta Platform's growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.
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 American 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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