If you love investing in stocks you're bound to buy some losers. Long term Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) shareholders know that all too well, since the share price is down considerably over three years. Regrettably, they have had to cope with a 68% drop in the share price over that period. And over the last year the share price fell 57%, so we doubt many shareholders are delighted. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 23% in the last three months.

After losing 8.7% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

See our latest analysis for Green Plains

Green Plains 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. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Over three years, Green Plains grew revenue at 0.09% per year. That's not a very high growth rate considering it doesn't make profits. This uninspiring revenue growth has no doubt helped send the share price lower; it dropped 19% during the period. When a stock falls hard like this, some investors like to add the company to a watchlist (in case the business recovers, longer term). After all, growing a business isn't easy, and the process will not always be smooth.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

This free interactive report on Green Plains' balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Green Plains shareholders are down 57% for the year, but the market itself is up 27%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 5% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. Before spending more time on Green Plains it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.

But note: Green Plains 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.