Yahoo Finance Aeterna Zentaris (TSE:AEZS) shareholders have endured a 82% loss from investing in the stock five years ago
Some stocks are best avoided. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. For example, we sympathize with anyone who was caught holding Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (TSE:AEZS) during the five years that saw its share price drop a whopping 82%. Furthermore, it's down 30% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders. 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.
Since shareholders are down over the longer term, lets look at the underlying fundamentals over the that time and see if they've been consistent with returns.
Check out our latest analysis for Aeterna Zentaris
Aeterna Zentaris recorded just US$3,679,000 in revenue over the last twelve months, which isn't really enough for us to consider it to have a proven product. We can't help wondering why it's publicly listed so early in its journey. Are venture capitalists not interested? So it seems shareholders are too busy dreaming about the progress to come than dwelling on the current (lack of) revenue. It seems likely some shareholders believe that Aeterna Zentaris has the funding to invent a new product before too long.
We think companies that have neither significant revenues nor profits are pretty high risk. You should be aware that there is always a chance that this sort of company will need to issue more shares to raise money to continue pursuing its business plan. While some such companies do very well over the long term, others become hyped up by promoters before eventually falling back down to earth, and going bankrupt (or being recapitalized). Aeterna Zentaris has already given some investors a taste of the bitter losses that high risk investing can cause.
Aeterna Zentaris has plenty of cash in the bank, with cash in excess of all liabilities sitting at US$47m, when it last reported (June 2021). That allows management to focus on growing the business, and not worry too much about raising capital. But with the share price diving 13% per year, over 5 years , it could be that the price was previously too hyped up. You can click on the image below to see (in greater detail) how Aeterna Zentaris' cash levels have changed over time.
It can be extremely risky to invest in a company that doesn't even have revenue. There's no way to know its value easily. Would it bother you if insiders were selling the stock? It would bother me, that's for sure. You can click here to see if there are insiders selling.
A Different Perspective
It's good to see that Aeterna Zentaris has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 65% in the last twelve months. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 13% per year over five years. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. 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. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Aeterna Zentaris (1 doesn't sit too well with us) that you should be aware of.
But note: Aeterna Zentaris 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 CA 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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