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Investors Who Bought Surface Oncology (NASDAQ:SURF) Shares A Year Ago Are Now Down 79%

It's not a secret that every investor will make bad investments, from time to time. But it's not unreasonable to try to avoid truly shocking capital losses. We wouldn't blame Surface Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:SURF) shareholders if they were still in shock after the stock dropped like a lead balloon, down 79% in just one year. While some investors are willing to stomach this sort of loss, they are usually professionals who spread their bets thinly. We wouldn't rush to judgement on Surface Oncology because we don't have a long term history to look at. Furthermore, it's down 48% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

View our latest analysis for Surface Oncology

Surface Oncology isn't a profitable company, so 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. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

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Surface Oncology's revenue didn't grow at all in the last year. In fact, it fell 50%. That's not what investors generally want to see. The share price fall of 79% in a year tells the story. Holders should not lose the lesson: loss making companies should grow revenue. Of course, extreme share price falls can be an opportunity for those who are willing to really dig deeper to understand a high risk company like this.

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

NasdaqGM:SURF Income Statement, July 25th 2019
NasdaqGM:SURF Income Statement, July 25th 2019

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

Given that the market gained 6.5% in the last year, Surface Oncology shareholders might be miffed that they lost 79%. While the aim is to do better than that, it's worth recalling that even great long-term investments sometimes underperform for a year or more. With the stock down 48% over the last three months, the market doesn't seem to believe that the company has solved all its problems. Basically, most investors should be wary of buying into a poor-performing stock, unless the business itself has clearly improved. It is all well and good that insiders have been buying shares, but we suggest you check here to see what price insiders were buying at.

Surface Oncology is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

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

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.