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Imagine Owning BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) And Trying To Stomach The 80% Share Price Drop

Long term investing is the way to go, but that doesn't mean you should hold every stock forever. We don't wish catastrophic capital loss on anyone. For example, we sympathize with anyone who was caught holding BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) during the five years that saw its share price drop a whopping 80%. And it's not just long term holders hurting, because the stock is down 74% in the last year. Furthermore, it's down 23% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders. 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.

View our latest analysis for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

Given that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

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In the last five years BioCryst Pharmaceuticals saw its revenue shrink by 10% per year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. So it's not altogether surprising to see the share price down 27% per year in the same time period. This kind of price performance makes us very wary, especially when combined with falling revenue. Of course, the poor performance could mean the market has been too severe selling down. That can happen.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

NasdaqGS:BCRX Income Statement, November 11th 2019
NasdaqGS:BCRX Income Statement, November 11th 2019

Take a more thorough look at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 13% in the last year, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shareholders lost 74%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 27% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. Before spending more time on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

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. Thank you for reading.