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Protec (KOSDAQ:053610) investors are up 12% in the past week, but earnings have declined over the last three years

Simply Wall St · 4d ago

Low-cost index funds make it easy to achieve average market returns. But if you invest in individual stocks, some are likely to underperform. Unfortunately for shareholders, while the Protec Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:053610) share price is up 70% in the last three years, that falls short of the market return. Some buyers are laughing, though, with an increase of 52% in the last year.

After a strong gain in the past week, it's worth seeing if longer term returns have been driven by improving fundamentals.

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To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' 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 the three years of share price growth, Protec actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) drop 9.6% per year.

This means it's unlikely the market is judging the company based on earnings growth. Given this situation, it makes sense to look at other metrics too.

Languishing at just 1.1%, we doubt the dividend is doing much to prop up the share price. Do you think that shareholders are buying for the 1.1% per annum revenue growth trend? We don't. So truth be told we can't see an easy explanation for the share price action, but perhaps you can...

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

earnings-and-revenue-growth
KOSDAQ:A053610 Earnings and Revenue Growth January 5th 2026

We know that Protec has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? If you are thinking of buying or selling Protec stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). 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. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Protec's TSR for the last 3 years was 77%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

Protec shareholders gained a total return of 54% during the year. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it's actually better than the average return of 9% over half a decade This suggests the company might be improving over time. Before forming an opinion on Protec you might want to consider these 3 valuation metrics.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on South Korean exchanges.