The simplest way to invest in stocks is to buy exchange traded funds. But investors can boost returns by picking market-beating companies to own shares in. For example, the Gentrack Group Limited (NZSE:GTK) share price is up 81% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market decline of around 5.9% (not including dividends). If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! Looking back further, the stock price is 47% higher than it was three years ago.

So let's investigate and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

View our latest analysis for Gentrack Group

Gentrack Group isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Over the last twelve months, Gentrack Group's revenue grew by 19%. We respect that sort of growth, no doubt. Buyers pushed the share price 81% in response, which isn't unreasonable. If the company can maintain the revenue growth, the share price could go higher still. But before deciding this growth stock is underappreciated, you might want to check out profitability trends (and cash flow)

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

Take a more thorough look at Gentrack Group's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Gentrack Group has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 81% in the last twelve months. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 8% 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 Gentrack Group better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Gentrack Group .

But note: Gentrack Group may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

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

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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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