If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Although, when we looked at Fullink TechnologyLtd (SZSE:301067), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

What Is 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. The formula for this calculation on Fullink TechnologyLtd is:

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

0.021 = CN¥19m ÷ (CN¥1.2b - CN¥313m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Thus, Fullink TechnologyLtd has an ROCE of 2.1%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Tech industry average of 5.0%.

View our latest analysis for Fullink TechnologyLtd

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Fullink TechnologyLtd's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you'd like to look at how Fullink TechnologyLtd has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Fullink TechnologyLtd, we didn't gain much confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 2.1% from 23% five years ago. And considering revenue has dropped while employing more capital, we'd be cautious. This could mean that the business is losing its competitive advantage or market share, because while more money is being put into ventures, it's actually producing a lower return - "less bang for their buck" per se.

On a side note, Fullink TechnologyLtd has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 25% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.

The Bottom Line

In summary, we're somewhat concerned by Fullink TechnologyLtd's diminishing returns on increasing amounts of capital. Yet despite these concerning fundamentals, the stock has performed strongly with a 59% return over the last year, so investors appear very optimistic. Regardless, we don't feel too comfortable with the fundamentals so we'd be steering clear of this stock for now.

One more thing: We've identified 3 warning signs with Fullink TechnologyLtd (at least 1 which shouldn't be ignored) , and understanding these would certainly be useful.

While Fullink TechnologyLtd may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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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.