Investors in Markforged Holding (NYSE:MKFG) from a year ago are still down 64%, even after 37% gain this past week

Markforged Holding Corporation (NYSE:MKFG) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 37% in the last week. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last year have been disappointing. Specifically, the stock price slipped by 64% in that time. So the bounce should be viewed in that context. Arguably, the fall was overdone.

While the last year has been tough for Markforged Holding shareholders, this past week has shown signs of promise. So let's look at the longer term fundamentals and see if they've been the driver of the negative returns.

View our latest analysis for Markforged Holding

Given that Markforged Holding only made minimal earnings in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue to gauge its business development. Generally speaking, we'd consider a stock like this alongside loss-making companies, simply because the quantum of the profit is so low. For shareholders to have confidence a company will grow profits significantly, it must grow revenue.

Markforged Holding grew its revenue by 27% over the last year. That's definitely a respectable growth rate. Meanwhile, the share price tanked 64%, suggesting the market had much higher expectations. It is of course possible that the business will still deliver strong growth, it will just take longer than expected to do it. For us it's important to consider when you think a company will become profitable, if you're basing your valuation on revenue.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

earnings-and-revenue-growth

We know that Markforged Holding has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

While Markforged Holding shareholders are down 64% for the year, the market itself is up 8.1%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. With the stock down 19% over the last three months, the market doesn't seem to believe that the company has solved all its problems. Given the relatively short history of this stock, we'd remain pretty wary until we see some strong business performance. 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. Even so, be aware that Markforged Holding is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

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.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.