As an investor its worth striving to ensure your overall portfolio beats the market average. But if you try your hand at stock picking, your risk returning less than the market. Unfortunately, that's been the case for longer term Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LTRP.A) shareholders, since the share price is down 49% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return of around 42%. Furthermore, it's down 24% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders. We note that the company has reported results fairly recently; and the market is hardly delighted. You can check out the latest numbers in our company report.

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View our latest analysis for Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings

Because Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings is loss-making, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

In the last three years, Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings saw its revenue grow by 1.6% per year, compound. That's not a very high growth rate considering it doesn't make profits. Indeed, the stock dropped 20% over the last three years. If revenue growth accelerates, we might see the share price bounce. But the real upside for shareholders will be if the company can start generating profits.

Depicted in the graphic below, you'll see revenue and earnings over time. If you want more detail, you can click on the chart itself.

If you are thinking of buying or selling Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

Over the last year, Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings shareholders took a loss of 13%. In contrast the market gained about 3.8%. Of course the long term matters more than the short term, and even great stocks will sometimes have a poor year. Unfortunately, the longer term story isn't pretty, with investment losses running at 20% per year over three years. We'd need clear signs of growth in the underlying business before we could muster much enthusiasm for this one. You could get a better understanding of Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings's growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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