It hasn't been the best quarter for American Woodmark Corporation (NASDAQ:AMWD) shareholders, since the share price has fallen 21% in that time. But at least the stock is up over the last five years. In that time, it is up 31%, which isn't bad, but is below the market return of 128%.
In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.
American Woodmark's earnings per share are down 0.9% per year, despite strong share price performance over five years.
So it's hard to argue that the earnings per share are the best metric to judge the company, as it may not be optimized for profits at this point. Therefore, it's worth taking a look at other metrics to try to understand the share price movements.
On the other hand, American Woodmark's revenue is growing nicely, at a compound rate of 13% over the last five years. It's quite possible that management are prioritizing revenue growth over EPS growth at the moment.
You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts
A Different Perspective
American Woodmark shareholders are up 28% for the year. But that was short of the market average. The silver lining is that the gain was actually better than the average annual return of 6% per year over five year. This suggests the company might be improving over time. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand American Woodmark better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks, for example - American Woodmark has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.
We will like American Woodmark better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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