Want To Invest In Document Security Systems Inc (NYSEMKT:DSS)? Here’s How It Performed Lately
Increase in profitability and industry-beating performance can be essential considerations in a stock for some investors. In this article, I will take a look at Document Security Systems Inc’s (AMEX:DSS) track record on a high level, to give you some insight into how the company has been performing against its historical trend and its industry peers. View our latest analysis for Document Security Systems
How Well Did DSS Perform?
For the purpose of this commentary, I like to use data from the most recent 12 months, which annualizes the latest 6-month earnings release, or some times, the latest annual report is already the most recent financial data. This technique allows me to examine different companies on a more comparable basis, using new information. For Document Security Systems, its most recent earnings (trailing twelve month) is -US$578.16K, which compared to the previous year’s figure, has become less negative. Since these values may be somewhat nearsighted, I’ve determined an annualized five-year figure for Document Security Systems’s earnings, which stands at -US$9.10M. This means that, despite the fact that net income is negative, it has become less negative over the years.
We can further assess Document Security Systems’s loss by looking at what the industry has been experiencing over the past few years. Each year, for the last five years Document Security Systems’s top-line has increased by a mere 4.89%, on average. The company’s inability to breakeven has been aided by the relatively flat top-line in the past. Viewing growth from a sector-level, the US software industry has been growing its average earnings by double-digit 10.57% over the previous twelve months, and 11.83% over the past five years. This suggests that, though Document Security Systems is presently unprofitable, it may have benefited from industry tailwinds, moving earnings into a more favorable position.
What does this mean?
Document Security Systems’s track record can be a valuable insight into its earnings performance, but it certainly doesn’t tell the whole story. Companies that incur net loss is always hard to forecast what will happen in the future and when. The most useful step is to assess company-specific issues Document Security Systems may be facing and whether management guidance has consistently been met in the past. I suggest you continue to research Document Security Systems to get a more holistic view of the stock by looking at:
1. Financial Health: Is DSS’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.
2. 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 trailing twelve months from 31 December 2017. 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.
