Nutanix (NASDAQ:NTNX) shareholders have endured a 42% loss from investing in the stock five years ago

Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But the main game is to find enough winners to more than offset the losers So we wouldn't blame long term Nutanix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTNX) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 42% over a half decade.

Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

See our latest analysis for Nutanix

Nutanix 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 expect to see good revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Over five years, Nutanix grew its revenue at 8.6% per year. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. We doubt many shareholders are ok with the fact the share price has fallen 7% each year for half a decade. Those who bought back then clearly believed in stronger growth - and maybe even profits. There is always a big risk of losing money yourself when you buy shares in a company that loses money.

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

earnings-and-revenue-growth

Nutanix is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think Nutanix will earn in the future (free analyst consensus estimates)

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Nutanix has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 14% in the last twelve months. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 7% per year over five years. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Nutanix better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Nutanix (1 is significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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 US 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.

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