Generally speaking long term investing is the way to go. But unfortunately, some companies simply don't succeed. Zooming in on an example, the Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien (ETR:BVB) share price dropped 59% in the last half decade. That is extremely sub-optimal, to say the least.

Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

View our latest analysis for Borussia Dortmund GmbH Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

During five years of share price growth, Borussia Dortmund GmbH Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien moved from a loss to profitability. Most would consider that to be a good thing, so it's counter-intuitive to see the share price declining. Other metrics might give us a better handle on how its value is changing over time.

Revenue is actually up 6.1% over the time period. A more detailed examination of the revenue and earnings may or may not explain why the share price languishes; there could be an opportunity.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

We know that Borussia Dortmund GmbH Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 22% in the last year, Borussia Dortmund GmbH Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien shareholders lost 1.4%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. However, the loss over the last year isn't as bad as the 10% per annum loss investors have suffered over the last half decade. We'd need to see some sustained improvements in the key metrics before we could muster much enthusiasm. 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. Even so, be aware that Borussia Dortmund GmbH Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...