It's easy to match the overall market return by buying an index fund. But if you buy individual stocks, you can do both better or worse than that. Investors in NFON AG (ETR:NFN) have tasted that bitter downside in the last year, as the share price dropped 16%. That's well bellow the market return of 14%. NFON hasn't been listed for long, so although we're wary of recent listings that perform poorly, it may still prove itself with time. In the last ninety days we've seen the share price slide 17%.

Check out our latest analysis for NFON

NFON isn't a profitable company, so 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. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. 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 twelve months, NFON increased its revenue by 24%. That's definitely a respectable growth rate. Unfortunately that wasn't good enough to stop the share price dropping 16%. This implies the market was expecting better growth. However, that's in the past now, and it's the future that matters most.

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 NFON shareholders are down 16% for the year, the market itself is up 14%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. It's worth noting that the last three months did the real damage, with a 17% decline. So it seems like some holders have been dumping the stock of late - and that's not bullish. Shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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