This week we saw the Congyu Intelligent Agricultural Holdings Limited (HKG:875) share price climb by 18%. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last year have been disappointing. Like an arid lake in a warming world, shareholder value has evaporated, with the share price down 54% in that time. The share price recovery is not so impressive when you consider the fall. Of course, it could be that the fall was overdone.

Although the past week has been more reassuring for shareholders, they're still in the red over the last year, so let's see if the underlying business has been responsible for the decline.

View our latest analysis for Congyu Intelligent Agricultural Holdings

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' 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 Congyu Intelligent Agricultural Holdings grew its earnings per share, moving from a loss to a profit.

Earnings per share growth rates aren't particularly useful for comparing with the share price, when a company has moved from loss to profit. But we may find different metrics more enlightening.

In contrast, the 62% drop in revenue is a real concern. If the market sees the weak revenue as jeopardising EPS, that could explain the lower share price.

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

If you are thinking of buying or selling Congyu Intelligent Agricultural Holdings stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

Investors in Congyu Intelligent Agricultural Holdings had a tough year, with a total loss of 54%, against a market gain of about 25%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 8% per year over half a decade. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Congyu Intelligent Agricultural Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Congyu Intelligent Agricultural Holdings (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

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

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