Alpine Immune Sciences (NASDAQ:ALPN) shareholders have earned a 20% CAGR over the last five years

When you buy a stock there is always a possibility that it could drop 100%. But when you pick a company that is really flourishing, you can make more than 100%. One great example is Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALPN) which saw its share price drive 144% higher over five years. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 20% gain in the last three months.

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

See our latest analysis for Alpine Immune Sciences

Given that Alpine Immune Sciences 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 5 years Alpine Immune Sciences saw its revenue grow at 57% per year. Even measured against other revenue-focussed companies, that's a good result. So it's not entirely surprising that the share price reflected this performance by increasing at a rate of 20% per year, in that time. So it seems likely that buyers have paid attention to the strong revenue growth. To our minds that makes Alpine Immune Sciences worth investigating - it may have its best days ahead.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Alpine Immune Sciences has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 72% in the last twelve months. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 20% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Alpine Immune Sciences you should be aware of, and 1 of them shouldn't be ignored.

Of course Alpine Immune Sciences may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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.