The past three years for Compugen (NASDAQ:CGEN) investors has not been profitable

As an investor, mistakes are inevitable. But really bad investments should be rare. So spare a thought for the long term shareholders of Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ:CGEN); the share price is down a whopping 78% in the last three years. That would be a disturbing experience. Furthermore, it's down 25% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

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.

View our latest analysis for Compugen

Because Compugen made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope to see good revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Over three years, Compugen grew revenue at 81% per year. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. So why has the share priced crashed 21% per year, in the same time? The share price makes us wonder if there is an issue with profitability. Sometimes fast revenue growth doesn't lead to profits. If the company is low on cash, it may have to raise capital soon.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

earnings-and-revenue-growth

Balance sheet strength is crucial. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Compugen has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 52% in the last twelve months. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 8% per year over five years. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Compugen (1 is significant!) 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 undervalued small caps 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.

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