If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. 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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. So when we looked at SolarWinds (NYSE:SWI) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. The formula for this calculation on SolarWinds is:

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

0.074 = US$202m ÷ (US$3.2b - US$436m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Thus, SolarWinds has an ROCE of 7.4%. In absolute terms, that's a low return but it's around the Software industry average of 7.7%.

See our latest analysis for SolarWinds

In the above chart we have measured SolarWinds' 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 SolarWinds here for free.

The Trend Of ROCE

You'd find it hard not to be impressed with the ROCE trend at SolarWinds. The data shows that returns on capital have increased by 239% over the trailing five years. That's a very favorable trend because this means that the company is earning more per dollar of capital that's being employed. Speaking of capital employed, the company is actually utilizing 43% less than it was five years ago, which can be indicative of a business that's improving its efficiency. A business that's shrinking its asset base like this isn't usually typical of a soon to be multi-bagger company.

In Conclusion...

In summary, it's great to see that SolarWinds has been able to turn things around and earn higher returns on lower amounts of capital. Astute investors may have an opportunity here because the stock has declined 28% in the last five years. With that in mind, we believe the promising trends warrant this stock for further investigation.

If you want to continue researching SolarWinds, you might be interested to know about the 1 warning sign that our analysis has discovered.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high 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.