If You Had Bought Hydrix (ASX:HYD) Stock Three Years Ago, You'd Be Sitting On A 80% Loss, Today

Every investor on earth makes bad calls sometimes. But really bad investments should be rare. So take a moment to sympathize with the long term shareholders of Hydrix Limited (ASX:HYD), who have seen the share price tank a massive 80% over a three year period. That would be a disturbing experience. And over the last year the share price fell 76%, so we doubt many shareholders are delighted. There was little comfort for shareholders in the last week as the price declined a further 4.8%.

See our latest analysis for Hydrix

Hydrix isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

In the last three years, Hydrix saw its revenue grow by 116% per year, compound. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. So why has the share priced crashed 42% per year, in the same time? The share price makes us wonder if there is an issue with profitability. Sometimes fast revenue growth doesn't lead to profits. If the company is low on cash, it may have to raise capital soon.

The chart below shows how revenue and earnings have changed with time, (if you click on the chart you can see the actual values).

ASX:HYD Income Statement, April 16th 2019
ASX:HYD Income Statement, April 16th 2019

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. This free interactive report on Hydrix's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Hydrix shareholders are down 76% for the year, but the market itself is up 12%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 23% per year over five years. 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. Investors who like to make money usually check up on insider purchases, such as the price paid, and total amount bought. You can find out about the insider purchases of Hydrix by clicking this link.

Hydrix is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

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

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.