There's no doubt that investing in the stock market is a truly brilliant way to build wealth. But not every stock you buy will perform as well as the overall market. Unfortunately for shareholders, while the Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) share price is up 16% in the last year, that falls short of the market return. Note that businesses generally develop over the long term, so the returns over the last year might not reflect a long term trend.

View our latest analysis for Equitable Holdings

Given that Equitable Holdings 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. 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.

Over the last twelve months, Equitable Holdings' revenue grew by 42%. We respect that sort of growth, no doubt. The share price gain of 16% in that time is better than nothing, but far from outlandish Its possible that shareholders had expected higher growth. However, if you can reasonably expect profits in the next few years, this stock might belong on your watchlist.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

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. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Equitable Holdings' TSR for the last year was 20%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

We're happy to report that Equitable Holdings are up 20% over the year (even including dividends). The bad news is that's no better than the average market return, which was roughly 35%. 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 2 warning signs for Equitable Holdings you should be aware of.

Equitable Holdings is not the only stock that insiders are buying. 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 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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