CRISPR Therapeutics' (NASDAQ:CRSP) investors will be pleased with their favorable 63% return over the last five years

It might be of some concern to shareholders to see the CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) share price down 17% in the last month. But at least the stock is up over the last five years. Unfortunately its return of 63% is below the market return of 87%. While the returns over the last 5 years have been good, we do feel sorry for those shareholders who haven't held shares that long, because the share price is down 47% in the last three years.

Now it's worth having a look at the company's fundamentals too, because that will help us determine if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

View our latest analysis for CRISPR Therapeutics

Given that CRISPR Therapeutics didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

For the last half decade, CRISPR Therapeutics can boast revenue growth at a rate of 13% per year. That's a pretty good long term growth rate. The annual gain of 10% over five years is better than nothing, but falls short of the market. Arguably, that means, the market (previously) expected stronger growth from the company.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

earnings-and-revenue-growth

CRISPR Therapeutics is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. If you are thinking of buying or selling CRISPR Therapeutics stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst consensus estimates for future profits.

A Different Perspective

CRISPR Therapeutics shareholders are up 12% for the year. But that was short of the market average. The silver lining is that the gain was actually better than the average annual return of 10% per year over five year. 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 CRISPR Therapeutics better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for CRISPR Therapeutics that you should be aware of.

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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.