Yahoo Finance Investors three-year losses grow to 44% as the stock sheds NZ$84m this past week
For many investors, the main point of stock picking is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But its virtually certain that sometimes you will buy stocks that fall short of the market average returns. We regret to report that long term Air New Zealand Limited (NZSE:AIR) shareholders have had that experience, with the share price dropping 49% in three years, versus a market return of about 41%.
With the stock having lost 4.5% in the past week, it's worth taking a look at business performance and seeing if there's any red flags.
View our latest analysis for Air New Zealand
Given that Air New Zealand didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect 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 Air New Zealand saw its revenue shrink by 23% per year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. On the face of it we'd posit the share price fall of 14% compound, over three years is well justified by the fundamental deterioration. It would probably be worth asking whether the company can fund itself to profitability. The company will need to return to revenue growth as quickly as possible, if it wants to see some enthusiasm from investors.
The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
Balance sheet strength is crucial. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time.
What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?
We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between Air New Zealand's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price return. Arguably the TSR is a more complete return calculation because it accounts for the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested), along with the hypothetical value of any discounted capital that have been offered to shareholders. Air New Zealand's TSR of was a loss of 44% for the 3 years. That wasn't as bad as its share price return, because it has paid dividends.
A Different Perspective
Investors in Air New Zealand had a tough year, with a total loss of 15%, against a market gain of about 0.7%. 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 0.8% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Air New Zealand better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Air New Zealand you should know about.
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing 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 NZ exchanges.
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.
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