Yahoo Finance Investors Who Bought Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Shares A Year Ago Are Now Down 23%
The simplest way to benefit from a rising market is to buy an index fund. When you buy individual stocks, you can make higher profits, but you also face the risk of under-performance. Investors in Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) have tasted that bitter downside in the last year, as the share price dropped 23%. That falls noticeably short of the market return of around 16%. Elanco Animal Health may have better days ahead, of course; we've only looked at a one year period. There was little comfort for shareholders in the last week as the price declined a further 1.7%.
See our latest analysis for Elanco Animal Health
While Elanco Animal Health made a small profit, in the last year, we think that the market is probably more focussed on the top line growth at the moment. Generally speaking, we'd consider a stock like this alongside loss-making companies, simply because the quantum of the profit is so low. It would be hard to believe in a more profitable future without growing revenues.
In the last year Elanco Animal Health saw its revenue grow by 2.0%. While that may seem decent it isn't great considering the company is still making a loss. Given this fairly low revenue growth (and lack of profits), it's not particularly surprising to see the stock down 23% in a year. In a hot market it's easy to forget growth is the life-blood of a loss making company. But if you buy a loss making company then you could become a loss making investor.
The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
It's probably worth noting we've seen significant insider buying in the last quarter, which we consider a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. You can see what analysts are predicting for Elanco Animal Health in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.
A Different Perspective
Given that the market gained 16% in the last year, Elanco Animal Health shareholders might be miffed that they lost 23%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. The share price decline has continued throughout the most recent three months, down 4.2%, suggesting an absence of enthusiasm from investors. Given the relatively short history of this stock, we'd remain pretty wary until we see some strong business performance. If you want to research this stock further, the data on insider buying is an obvious place to start. You can click here to see who has been buying shares - and the price they paid.
Elanco Animal Health is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
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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.
