If you are building a properly diversified stock portfolio, the chances are some of your picks will perform badly. But long term OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK) shareholders have had a particularly rough ride in the last three year. So they might be feeling emotional about the 59% share price collapse, in that time.

So let's have a look and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

Check out our latest analysis for OPKO Health

OPKO Health isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope to see good revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

In the last three years OPKO Health saw its revenue shrink by 35% per year. That means its revenue trend is very weak compared to other loss making companies. Arguably, the market has responded appropriately to this business performance by sending the share price down 17% (annualized) in the same time period. When revenue is dropping, and losses are still costing, and the share price sinking fast, it's fair to ask if something is remiss. It could be a while before the company repays long suffering shareholders with share price gains.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

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. This free report showing analyst forecasts should help you form a view on OPKO Health

A Different Perspective

OPKO Health shareholders are down 2.5% for the year, but the market itself is up 34%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 0.4% per year over half a decade. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand OPKO Health better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks, for example - OPKO Health has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

OPKO Health is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of small cap companies at attractive valuations which insiders have been buying.

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.