Is Athersys' (NASDAQ:ATHX) Share Price Gain Of 118% Well Earned?

When you buy shares in a company, it's worth keeping in mind the possibility that it could fail, and you could lose your money. But on the bright side, if you buy shares in a high quality company at the right price, you can gain well over 100%. For instance, the price of Athersys, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHX) stock is up an impressive 118% over the last five years.

Check out our latest analysis for Athersys

Athersys 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. 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.

In the last 5 years Athersys saw its revenue grow at 2.8% per year. Put simply, that growth rate fails to impress. In comparison, the share price rise of 17% per year over the last half a decade is pretty impressive. While we wouldn't be overly concerned, it might be worth checking whether you think the fundamental business gains really justify the share price action. It may be that the market is pretty optimistic about Athersys.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

earnings-and-revenue-growth
earnings-and-revenue-growth

It's probably worth noting we've seen significant insider buying in the last quarter, which we consider a positive. That said, we think earnings and revenue growth trends are even more important factors to consider. You can see what analysts are predicting for Athersys in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that Athersys shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 105% over the last year. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 17% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Athersys better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Athersys you should be aware of.

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies 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 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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