Yahoo Finance If You Had Bought Celsion (NASDAQ:CLSN) Stock Five Years Ago, You'd Be Sitting On A 97% Loss, Today
Celsion Corporation (NASDAQ:CLSN) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 63% in the last month. But will that repair the damage for the weary investors who have owned this stock as it declined over half a decade? Probably not. Like a ship taking on water, the share price has sunk 97% in that time. The recent bounce might mean the long decline is over, but we are not confident. The important question is if the business itself justifies a higher share price in the long term.
While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isn't as important as health and happiness.
View our latest analysis for Celsion
With just US$500,000 worth of revenue in twelve months, we don't think the market considers Celsion to have proven its business plan. We can't help wondering why it's publicly listed so early in its journey. Are venture capitalists not interested? So it seems that the investors focused more on what could be, than paying attention to the current revenues (or lack thereof). It seems likely some shareholders believe that Celsion has the funding to invent a new product before too long.
We think companies that have neither significant revenues nor profits are pretty high risk. We can see that they needed to raise more capital, and took that step recently despite the fact that it would have been dilutive to current holders. While some such companies go on to make revenue, profits, and generate value, others get hyped up by hopeful naifs before eventually going bankrupt. Some Celsion investors have already had a taste of the bitterness stocks like this can leave in the mouth.
Our data indicates that Celsion had more in total liabilities than it had cash, when it last reported. That put it in the highest risk category, according to our analysis. But since the share price has dived -51% per year, over 5 years , it looks like some investors think it's time to abandon ship, so to speak, even though the cash reserves look a little better with the capital raising. The image below shows how Celsion's balance sheet has changed over time; if you want to see the precise values, simply click on the image.
It can be extremely risky to invest in a company that doesn't even have revenue. There's no way to know its value easily. Given that situation, would you be concerned if it turned out insiders were relentlessly selling stock? It would bother me, that's for sure. You can click here to see if there are insiders selling.
A Different Perspective
We regret to report that Celsion shareholders are down 50% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 3.3%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. However, the loss over the last year isn't as bad as the 51% per annum loss investors have suffered over the last half decade. We would want clear information suggesting the company will grow, before taking the view that the share price will stabilize. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should learn about the 5 warning signs we've spotted with Celsion (including 2 which is are concerning) .
Celsion is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
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