The past five years for Fossil Group (NASDAQ:FOSL) investors has not been profitable

We're definitely into long term investing, but some companies are simply bad investments over any time frame. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. Imagine if you held Fossil Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FOSL) for half a decade as the share price tanked 78%. And it's not just long term holders hurting, because the stock is down 66% in the last year. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 34% in the last 90 days.

So let's have a look and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

See our latest analysis for Fossil Group

Given that Fossil Group 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. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

In the last five years Fossil Group saw its revenue shrink by 11% per year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. So it's not that strange that the share price dropped 12% per year in that 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.

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

This free interactive report on Fossil Group's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 9.8% in the twelve months, Fossil Group shareholders did even worse, losing 66%. 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. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 12% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Fossil Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Fossil Group that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you are like me, then you will 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 American 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.

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