Statistically speaking, long term investing is a profitable endeavour. But along the way some stocks are going to perform badly. Zooming in on an example, the 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS) share price dropped 63% in the last half decade. That is extremely sub-optimal, to say the least. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 42% in the last year. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 32% in the last three months. Of course, this share price action may well have been influenced by the 15% decline in the broader market, throughout the period.

If the past week is anything to go by, investor sentiment for 1-800-FLOWERS.COM isn't positive, so let's see if there's a mismatch between fundamentals and the share price.

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1-800-FLOWERS.COM isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. 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, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM saw its revenue increase by 3.5% per year. That's not a very high growth rate considering it doesn't make profits. This lacklustre growth has no doubt fueled the loss of 10% per year, in that time. We'd want to see proof that future revenue growth is likely to be significantly stronger before getting too interested in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. However, it's possible too many in the market will ignore it, and there may be an opportunity if it starts to recover down the track.

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

If you are thinking of buying or selling 1-800-FLOWERS.COM stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet .

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that 1-800-FLOWERS.COM shareholders are down 42% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 2.4%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 10% per year over five years. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. Before spending more time on 1-800-FLOWERS.COM it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.

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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.