The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But if you pick the right stock, you can make a lot more than 100%. For example, the Metro Mining Limited (ASX:MMI) share price has soared 200% return in just a single year. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 29% gain in the last three months. It is also impressive that the stock is up 120% over three years, adding to the sense that it is a real winner.

Now it's worth having a look at the company's fundamentals too, because that will help us determine if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

Check out our latest analysis for Metro Mining

Given that Metro Mining didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. 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.

Over the last twelve months, Metro Mining's revenue grew by 44%. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. The revenue growth is decent but the share price had an even better year, gaining 200%. If the profitability is on the horizon then now could be a very exciting time to be a shareholder. Of course, we are always cautious about succumbing to 'fear of missing out' when a stock has shot up strongly.

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

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

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that Metro Mining shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 200% over one year. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 7% per year over five years. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Metro Mining better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Metro Mining (including 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) .

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of undervalued small caps that insiders are buying.

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