When you buy and hold a stock for the long term, you definitely want it to provide a positive return. Furthermore, you'd generally like to see the share price rise faster than the market. But G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GIII) has fallen short of that second goal, with a share price rise of 28% over five years, which is below the market return. On a brighter note, more newer shareholders are probably rather content with the 25% share price gain over twelve months.

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 G-III Apparel Group

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 flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During the five years of share price growth, G-III Apparel Group moved from a loss to profitability. That would generally be considered a positive, so we'd hope to see the share price to rise.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

We know that G-III Apparel Group has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? This free report showing analyst revenue forecasts should help you figure out if the EPS growth can be sustained.

A Different Perspective

G-III Apparel Group provided a TSR of 25% over the last twelve months. But that was short of the market average. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it's actually better than the average return of 5% over half a decade This could indicate that the company is winning over new investors, as it pursues its strategy. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand G-III Apparel Group better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with G-III Apparel Group (including 1 which shouldn't be ignored) .

Of course G-III Apparel Group may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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.