Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) sheds 3.1% this week, as yearly returns fall more in line with earnings growth

Yahoo

27-05-2025

While Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 28% in the last quarter. But that scarcely detracts from the really solid long term returns generated by the company over five years. In fact, the share price is 281% higher today. To some, the recent pullback wouldn't be surprising after such a fast rise. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean it's cheap now.
While this past week has detracted from the company's five-year return, let's look at the recent trends of the underlying business and see if the gains have been in alignment.
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While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.
Over half a decade, Nova managed to grow its earnings per share at 39% a year. This EPS growth is higher than the 31% average annual increase in the share price. Therefore, it seems the market has become relatively pessimistic about the company.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
We know that Nova has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? Check if analysts think Nova will grow revenue in the future.
Investors in Nova had a tough year, with a total loss of 16%, against a market gain of about 11%. 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. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 31%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. Before deciding if you like the current share price, check how Nova scores on these 3 valuation metrics.
But note: Nova may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).
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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