By buying an index fund, investors can approximate the average market return. But many of us dare to dream of bigger returns, and build a portfolio ourselves. For example, Pretium Resources Inc. (TSE:PVG) shareholders have seen the share price rise 47% over three years, well in excess of the market return (17%, not including dividends). On the other hand, the returns haven't been quite so good recently, with shareholders up just 16%.

See our latest analysis for Pretium Resources

Pretium Resources 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 expect strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Over the last three years Pretium Resources has grown its revenue at 19% annually. That's pretty nice growth. The share price gain of 14% per year shows that the market is paying attention to this growth. If that's the case, then it could be well worth while to research the growth trajectory. Of course, it's always worth considering funding risks when a company isn't profitable.

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 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. You can see what analysts are predicting for Pretium Resources in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

A Different Perspective

Pretium Resources shareholders are up 16% for the year. But that was short of the market average. The silver lining is that the gain was actually better than the average annual return of 4% per year over five year. This could indicate that the company is winning over new investors, as it pursues its strategy. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Pretium Resources that you should be aware of.

Pretium Resources 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 CA 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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