The past five years for Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) investors has not been profitable

We think intelligent long term investing is the way to go. But that doesn't mean long term investors can avoid big losses. For example the Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) share price dropped 59% over five years. That is extremely sub-optimal, to say the least. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 16% in the last three months. We note that the company has reported results fairly recently; and the market is hardly delighted. You can check out the latest numbers in our company report.

So let's have a look and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

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Given that Warner Bros. Discovery 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 it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last half decade, Warner Bros. Discovery saw its revenue increase by 32% per year. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. Unfortunately for shareholders the share price has dropped 10% per year - disappointing considering the growth. This could mean high expectations have been tempered, potentially because investors are looking to the bottom line. If you think the company can keep up its revenue growth, you'd have to consider the possibility that there's an opportunity here.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

It's good to see that there was some significant insider buying in the last three months. That's a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think Warner Bros. Discovery will earn in the future (free profit forecasts).

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 17% over one year. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 10% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Warner Bros. Discovery better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Warner Bros. Discovery you should know about.

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