Performant Financial's (NASDAQ:PFMT) Stock Price Has Reduced 45% In The Past Five Years

Performant Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:PFMT) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 59% in the last quarter. But if you look at the last five years the returns have not been good. In fact, the share price is down 45%, which falls well short of the return you could get by buying an index fund.

See our latest analysis for Performant Financial

Performant Financial isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

Over five years, Performant Financial grew its revenue at 0.3% per year. That's not a very high growth rate considering it doesn't make profits. Given the weak growth, the share price fall of 8% isn't particularly surprising. The key question is whether the company can make it to profitability, and beyond, without trouble. Shareholders will want the company to approach profitability if it can't grow revenue any faster.

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

If you are thinking of buying or selling Performant Financial stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

Performant Financial shareholders are up 9.3% for the year. But that was short of the market average. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 8% endured over half a decade. So this might be a sign the business has turned its fortunes around. 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. Take risks, for example - Performant Financial has 3 warning signs (and 1 which can't be ignored) we think you should know about.

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

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