If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Andon Health's (SZSE:002432) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Andon Health:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.07 = CN¥1.5b ÷ (CN¥22b - CN¥482m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

Therefore, Andon Health has an ROCE of 7.0%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Medical Equipment industry average of 9.6%.

See our latest analysis for Andon Health

In the above chart we have measured Andon Health's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Andon Health here for free.

So How Is Andon Health's ROCE Trending?

Andon Health has recently broken into profitability so their prior investments seem to be paying off. About five years ago the company was generating losses but things have turned around because it's now earning 7.0% on its capital. And unsurprisingly, like most companies trying to break into the black, Andon Health is utilizing 1,344% more capital than it was five years ago. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, both common traits of a multi-bagger.

On a related note, the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets has decreased to 2.2%, which basically reduces it's funding from the likes of short-term creditors or suppliers. So shareholders would be pleased that the growth in returns has mostly come from underlying business performance.

The Bottom Line

Long story short, we're delighted to see that Andon Health's reinvestment activities have paid off and the company is now profitable. And a remarkable 645% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing Andon Health, we've discovered 4 warning signs that you should be aware of.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.