The simplest way to benefit from a rising market is to buy an index fund. While individual stocks can be big winners, plenty more fail to generate satisfactory returns. That downside risk was realized by Time Out Group plc (LON:TMO) shareholders over the last year, as the share price declined 48%. That contrasts poorly with the market return of 6.7%. Notably, shareholders had a tough run over the longer term, too, with a drop of 45% in the last three years. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 37% in the last three months.

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.

We check all companies for important risks. See what we found for Time Out Group in our free report.

Time Out Group isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. 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.

Time Out Group's revenue didn't grow at all in the last year. In fact, it fell 1.8%. That looks pretty grim, at a glance. Shareholders have seen the share price drop 48% in that time. What would you expect when revenue is falling, and it doesn't make a profit? We think most holders must believe revenue growth will improve, or else costs will decline.

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

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. If you are thinking of buying or selling Time Out Group stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

While the broader market gained around 6.7% in the last year, Time Out Group shareholders lost 48%. 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. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 6% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. Investors who like to make money usually check up on insider purchases, such as the price paid, and total amount bought. You can find out about the insider purchases of Time Out Group by clicking this link.