The 22% return this week takes James Cropper's (LON:CRPR) shareholders one-year gains to 85%

Passive investing in index funds can generate returns that roughly match the overall market. But if you pick the right individual stocks, you could make more than that. To wit, the James Cropper PLC (LON:CRPR) share price is 85% higher than it was a year ago, much better than the market return of around 20% (not including dividends) in the same period. If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! On the other hand, longer term shareholders have had a tougher run, with the stock falling 52% in three years.

After a strong gain in the past week, it's worth seeing if longer term returns have been driven by improving fundamentals.

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James Cropper isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Over the last twelve months, James Cropper's revenue grew by 4.9%. That's not great considering the company is losing money. In keeping with the revenue growth, the share price gained 85% in that time. While not a huge gain tht seems pretty reasonable. Given the market doesn't seem too excited about the stock, a closer look at the financial data could pay off, if you can find indications of a stronger growth trend in the future.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think James Cropper will earn in the future (free profit forecasts).

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that James Cropper shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 85% over one year. That certainly beats the loss of about 10% per year over the last half decade. 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 James Cropper better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for James Cropper (1 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

James Cropper is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find lesser know companies this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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