The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But on the bright side, you can make far more than 100% on a really good stock. Long term NEXTDC Limited (ASX:NXT) shareholders would be well aware of this, since the stock is up 120% in five years. On top of that, the share price is up 14% in about a quarter. But this move may well have been assisted by the reasonably buoyant market (up 9.8% in 90 days).

On the back of a solid 7-day performance, let's check what role the company's fundamentals have played in driving long term shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for NEXTDC

NEXTDC wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

In the last 5 years NEXTDC saw its revenue grow at 17% per year. Even measured against other revenue-focussed companies, that's a good result. Meanwhile, its share price performance certainly reflects the strong growth, given the share price grew at 17% per year, compound, during the period. So it seems likely that buyers have paid attention to the strong revenue growth. To our minds that makes NEXTDC worth investigating - it may have its best days ahead.

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

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. This free report showing analyst forecasts should help you form a view on NEXTDC

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that NEXTDC shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 53% over the last year. That's better than the annualised return of 17% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. Given the share price momentum remains strong, it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock, lest you miss an opportunity. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for NEXTDC (of which 1 is a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.