Did You Miss Dell Technologies' (NYSE:DELL) 28% Share Price Gain?

If you want to compound wealth in the stock market, you can do so by buying an index fund. But one can do better than that by picking better than average stocks (as part of a diversified portfolio). To wit, the Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) share price is 28% higher than it was a year ago, much better than the market return of around 13% (not including dividends) in the same period. If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! Dell Technologies hasn't been listed for long, so it's still not clear if it is a long term winner.

View our latest analysis for Dell Technologies

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.

During the last year, Dell Technologies actually saw its earnings per share drop 13%.

So we don't think that investors are paying too much attention to EPS. Indeed, when EPS is declining but the share price is up, it often means the market is considering other factors.

Revenue was pretty flat year on year, but maybe a closer look at the data can explain the market optimism.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. This free report showing analyst forecasts should help you form a view on Dell Technologies

A Different Perspective

Dell Technologies shareholders should be happy with the total gain of 28% over the last twelve months. A substantial portion of that gain has come in the last three months, with the stock up 37% in that time. This suggests the company is continuing to win over new investors. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 5 warning signs for Dell Technologies (1 shouldn't be ignored) that you should be aware of.

Dell Technologies is not the only stock that insiders are buying. 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 US exchanges.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

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