It is a pleasure to report that the CanSino Biologics Inc. (HKG:6185) is up 39% in the last quarter. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last three years have been stomach churning. Indeed, the share price is down a whopping 88% in the last three years. So it's about time shareholders saw some gains. The thing to think about is whether the business has really turned around. We really feel for shareholders in this scenario. It's a good reminder of the importance of diversification, and it's worth keeping in mind there's more to life than money, anyway.

The recent uptick of 7.4% could be a positive sign of things to come, so let's take a look at historical fundamentals.

Check out our latest analysis for CanSino Biologics

CanSino Biologics wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, 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 hope 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 three years CanSino Biologics saw its revenue shrink by 71% per year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. The swift share price decline at an annual compound rate of 23%, reflects this weak fundamental performance. Never forget that loss making companies with falling revenue can and do cause losses for everyday investors. It's worth remembering that investors call buying a steeply falling share price 'catching a falling knife' because it is a dangerous pass time.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

It's probably worth noting we've seen significant insider buying in the last quarter, which we consider a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

CanSino Biologics shareholders are up 13% for the year. But that return falls short of the market. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 6% endured over half a decade. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. 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 1 warning sign for CanSino Biologics you should be aware of.

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

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

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