Pyxis Tankers (NASDAQ:PXS) shareholder returns have been respectable, earning 51% in 1 year

These days it's easy to simply buy an index fund, and your returns should (roughly) match the market. But one can do better than that by picking better than average stocks (as part of a diversified portfolio). To wit, the Pyxis Tankers Inc. (NASDAQ:PXS) share price is 51% higher than it was a year ago, much better than the market decline of around 26% (not including dividends) in the same period. So that should have shareholders smiling. However, the longer term returns haven't been so impressive, with the stock up just 5.6% in the last three years.

Since the stock has added US$5.5m to its market cap in the past week alone, let's see if underlying performance has been driving long-term returns.

View our latest analysis for Pyxis Tankers

Pyxis Tankers isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

Pyxis Tankers grew its revenue by 92% last year. That's stonking growth even when compared to other loss-making stocks. While the share price gain of 51% over twelve months is pretty tasty, you might argue it doesn't fully reflect the strong revenue growth. If that's the case, now might be the time to take a close look at Pyxis Tankers. Human beings have trouble conceptualizing (and valuing) exponential growth. Is that what we're seeing here?

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

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

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that Pyxis Tankers shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 51% over the last year. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 6% per year over five years. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Pyxis Tankers you should be aware of, and 1 of them is potentially serious.

We will like Pyxis Tankers better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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