Generation Income Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GIPR) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 12% in the last week. But that is minimal compensation for the share price under-performance over the last year. In fact, the price has declined 15% in a year, falling short of the returns you could get by investing in an index fund.

While the last year has been tough for Generation Income Properties shareholders, this past week has shown signs of promise. So let's look at the longer term fundamentals and see if they've been the driver of the negative returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Generation Income Properties

Generation Income Properties wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Generation Income Properties grew its revenue by 19% over the last year. That's definitely a respectable growth rate. Meanwhile, the share price is down 15% over twelve months, which is disappointing given the progress made. You might even wonder if the share price was previously over-hyped. But if revenue keeps growing, then at a certain point the share price would likely follow.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

We're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. You can see what analysts are predicting for Generation Income Properties in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, Generation Income Properties' TSR for the last 1 year was -4.4%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!