Investors in BGSF (NYSE:BGSF) from three years ago are still down 52%, even after 10% gain this past week

BGSF, Inc. (NYSE:BGSF) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 13% in the last month. But over the last three years we've seen a quite serious decline. Tragically, the share price declined 68% in that time. So it is really good to see an improvement. After all, could be that the fall was overdone.

While the last three years has been tough for BGSF shareholders, this past week has shown signs of promise. So let's look at the longer term fundamentals and see if they've been the driver of the negative returns.

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BGSF wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, 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 desire strong revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one would hope for good top-line growth to make up for the lack of earnings.

In the last three years BGSF saw its revenue shrink by 8.1% per year. That is not a good result. The share price decline of 19% compound, over three years, is understandable given the company doesn't have profits to boast of, and revenue is moving in the wrong direction. Having said that, if growth is coming in the future, now may be the low ebb for the company. We'd be pretty wary of this one until it makes a profit, because we don't specialize in finding turnaround situations.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

This free interactive report on BGSF's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We've already covered BGSF's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR attempts to capture the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested) as well as any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings offered to shareholders. Its history of dividend payouts mean that BGSF's TSR, which was a 52% drop over the last 3 years, was not as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

BGSF provided a TSR of 11% over the last twelve months. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. But at least that's still a gain! Over five years the TSR has been a reduction of 7% per year, over five years. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. 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. Take risks, for example - BGSF has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is potentially serious) we think you should know about.

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