Advertisement
UK markets close in 3 hours 46 minutes
  • FTSE 100

    8,089.33
    +48.95 (+0.61%)
     
  • FTSE 250

    19,709.64
    -9.73 (-0.05%)
     
  • AIM

    755.27
    +0.58 (+0.08%)
     
  • GBP/EUR

    1.1670
    +0.0025 (+0.21%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2510
    +0.0048 (+0.38%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    51,037.43
    -2,159.23 (-4.06%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,357.08
    -25.49 (-1.84%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,071.63
    +1.08 (+0.02%)
     
  • DOW

    38,460.92
    -42.77 (-0.11%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    82.98
    +0.17 (+0.21%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,340.40
    +2.00 (+0.09%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    37,628.48
    -831.60 (-2.16%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    17,284.54
    +83.27 (+0.48%)
     
  • DAX

    17,957.52
    -131.18 (-0.73%)
     
  • CAC 40

    8,013.86
    -78.00 (-0.96%)
     

Lucara Diamond's (TSE:LUC) Stock Price Has Reduced 67% In The Past Three Years

It is doubtless a positive to see that the Lucara Diamond Corp. (TSE:LUC) share price has gained some 42% in the last three months. But that is small recompense for the exasperating returns over three years. In that time, the share price dropped 67%. So it is really good to see an improvement. After all, could be that the fall was overdone.

See our latest analysis for Lucara Diamond

Lucara Diamond isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

In the last three years Lucara Diamond saw its revenue shrink by 15% per year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. Arguably, the market has responded appropriately to this business performance by sending the share price down 19% (annualized) in the same time period. When revenue is dropping, and losses are still costing, and the share price sinking fast, it's fair to ask if something is remiss. It could be a while before the company repays long suffering shareholders with share price gains.

ADVERTISEMENT

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

earnings-and-revenue-growth
earnings-and-revenue-growth

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

Investors should note that there's a difference between Lucara Diamond's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price change, which we've covered above. Arguably the TSR is a more complete return calculation because it accounts for the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested), along with the hypothetical value of any discounted capital that have been offered to shareholders. Lucara Diamond's TSR of was a loss of 63% for the 3 years. That wasn't as bad as its share price return, because it has paid dividends.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 7.7% in the last year, Lucara Diamond shareholders lost 2.4%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. However, the loss over the last year isn't as bad as the 9% per annum loss investors have suffered over the last half decade. We'd need to see some sustained improvements in the key metrics before we could muster much enthusiasm. 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Lucara Diamond , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

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

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. 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.