Long term investing works well, but it doesn’t always work for each individual stock. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. Anyone who held Health Catalyst, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCAT) for five years would be nursing their metaphorical wounds since the share price dropped 88% in that time. And it’s not just long term holders hurting, because the stock is down 42% in the last year. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 16% in the last 90 days. While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isn’t as important as health and happiness.

Since shareholders are down over the longer term, lets look at the underlying fundamentals over the that time and see if they’ve been consistent with returns.

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Health Catalyst wasn’t profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we’ll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Over five years, Health Catalyst grew its revenue at 12% per year. That’s a fairly respectable growth rate. So it is unexpected to see the stock down 13% per year in the last five years. The truth is that the growth might be below expectations, and investors are probably worried about the continual losses.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

Health Catalyst is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. If you are thinking of buying or selling Health Catalyst stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst consensus estimates for future profits.

Investors in Health Catalyst had a tough year, with a total loss of 42%, against a market gain of about 11%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Regrettably, last year’s performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 13% per year over five years. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. 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 risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we’ve spotted 2 warning signs for Health Catalyst you should know about.