Even after rising 12% this past week, Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) shareholders are still down 64% over the past five years

It's nice to see the Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ:SSYS) share price up 12% in a week. But don't envy holders -- looking back over 5 years the returns have been really bad. Indeed, the share price is down 64% in the period. So we're hesitant to put much weight behind the short term increase. Of course, this could be the start of a turnaround.

On a more encouraging note the company has added US$87m to its market cap in just the last 7 days, so let's see if we can determine what's driven the five-year loss for shareholders.

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Because Stratasys made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope to see good revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

In the last half decade, Stratasys saw its revenue increase by 0.7% per year. That's far from impressive given all the money it is losing. This lacklustre growth has no doubt fueled the loss of 10% per year, in that time. We want to see an acceleration of revenue growth (or profits) before showing much interest in this one. When a stock falls hard like this, some investors like to add the company to a watchlist (in case the business recovers, longer term).

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

A Different Perspective

Stratasys shareholders gained a total return of 6.0% during the year. But that was short of the market average. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 10% endured over half a decade. So this might be a sign the business has turned its fortunes around. 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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Stratasys you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

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.