Some stocks are best avoided. It hits us in the gut when we see fellow investors suffer a loss. Anyone who held Five Star Senior Living Inc. (NASDAQ:FVE) for five years would be nursing their metaphorical wounds since the share price dropped 89% in that time. And it's not just long term holders hurting, because the stock is down 62% in the last year. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 33% in the last three months. We really hope anyone holding through that price crash has a diversified portfolio. Even when you lose money, you don't have to lose the lesson.

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

See our latest analysis for Five Star Senior Living

Given that Five Star Senior Living 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. 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 half a decade Five Star Senior Living reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 23% for each year. That puts it in an unattractive cohort, to put it mildly. So it's not that strange that the share price dropped 14% per year in that period. This kind of price performance makes us very wary, especially when combined with falling revenue. Ironically, that behavior could create an opportunity for the contrarian investor - but only if there are good reasons to predict a brighter future.

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

While the broader market gained around 5.6% in the last year, Five Star Senior Living shareholders lost 62%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 14% over the last half decade. 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Five Star Senior Living better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Five Star Senior Living you should know about.

But note: Five Star Senior Living may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

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

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.