Long term investing can be life changing when you buy and hold the truly great businesses. While not every stock performs well, when investors win, they can win big. Don't believe it? Then look at the ATOSS Software AG (ETR:AOF) share price. It's 445% higher than it was five years ago. If that doesn't get you thinking about long term investing, we don't know what will. On top of that, the share price is up 31% in about a quarter. The company reported its financial results recently; you can catch up on the latest numbers by reading our company report.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

View our latest analysis for ATOSS Software

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

During five years of share price growth, ATOSS Software achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 26% per year. This EPS growth is lower than the 40% average annual increase in the share price. So it's fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it did five years ago. That's not necessarily surprising considering the five-year track record of earnings growth. This favorable sentiment is reflected in its (fairly optimistic) P/E ratio of 60.92.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

We know that ATOSS Software 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.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for ATOSS Software the TSR over the last 5 years was 496%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!