If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. Having said that, from a first glance at Wuxi Acryl Technology (SHSE:603722) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Wuxi Acryl Technology is:

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

0.033 = CN¥25m ÷ (CN¥939m - CN¥173m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Therefore, Wuxi Acryl Technology has an ROCE of 3.3%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Chemicals industry average of 5.5%.

View our latest analysis for Wuxi Acryl Technology

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

The Trend Of ROCE

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Wuxi Acryl Technology, we didn't gain much confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 6.6% over the last five years. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. 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.

What We Can Learn From Wuxi Acryl Technology's ROCE

From the above analysis, we find it rather worrisome that returns on capital and sales for Wuxi Acryl Technology have fallen, meanwhile the business is employing more capital than it was five years ago. Yet despite these poor fundamentals, the stock has gained a huge 105% over the last five years, so investors appear very optimistic. In any case, the current underlying trends don't bode well for long term performance so unless they reverse, we'd start looking elsewhere.

Like most companies, Wuxi Acryl Technology does come with some risks, and we've found 4 warning signs that you should be aware of.

While Wuxi Acryl Technology isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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.