When you buy shares in a company, there is always a risk that the price drops to zero. But when you pick a company that is really flourishing, you can make more than 100%. For example, the Neuronetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STIM) share price had more than doubled in just one year - up 121%. In more good news, the share price has risen 22% in thirty days. The longer term returns have not been as good, with the stock price only 10% higher than it was three years ago.

After a strong gain in the past week, it's worth seeing if longer term returns have been driven by improving fundamentals.

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Because Neuronetics made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Neuronetics grew its revenue by 22% last year. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. While that revenue growth is pretty good the share price performance outshone it, with a lift of 121% as mentioned above. Given that the business has made good progress on the top line, it would be worth taking a look at its path to profitability. But investors need to be wary of how the 'fear of missing out' could influence them to buy without doing thorough research.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. You can see what analysts are predicting for Neuronetics in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that Neuronetics shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 121% over one year. That's better than the annualised return of 8% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Neuronetics (at least 1 which can't be ignored) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Neuronetics is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of small cap companies at attractive valuations which insiders have been 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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