Long term investing is the way to go, but that doesn't mean you should hold every stock forever. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. For example, we sympathize with anyone who was caught holding Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO) during the five years that saw its share price drop a whopping 89%. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 58% in the last three months. 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.

After losing 15% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

Check out our latest analysis for Sangamo Therapeutics

Sangamo Therapeutics isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one would hope for good top-line growth to make up for the lack of earnings.

Over half a decade Sangamo Therapeutics reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 0.4% for each year. While far from catastrophic that is not good. The share price fall of 14% (per year, over five years) is a stern reminder that money-losing companies are expected to grow revenue. It takes a certain kind of mental fortitude (or recklessness) to buy shares in a company that loses money and doesn't grow revenue. Fear of becoming a 'bagholder' may be keeping people away from this stock.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

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

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 16% in the last year, Sangamo Therapeutics shareholders lost 17%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. However, the loss over the last year isn't as bad as the 14% per annum loss investors have suffered over the last half decade. We'd need to see some sustained improvements in the key metrics before we could muster much enthusiasm. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Sangamo Therapeutics better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks, for example - Sangamo Therapeutics has 4 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

But note: Sangamo Therapeutics may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

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

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.