There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Having said that, from a first glance at Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Columbia Sportswear:

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

0.14 = US$335m ÷ (US$2.9b - US$597m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

So, Columbia Sportswear has an ROCE of 14%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 12% generated by the Luxury industry.

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

So How Is Columbia Sportswear's ROCE Trending?

In terms of Columbia Sportswear's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 14% from 20% five years ago. However it looks like Columbia Sportswear might be reinvesting for long term growth because while capital employed has increased, the company's sales haven't changed much in the last 12 months. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.

Our Take On Columbia Sportswear's ROCE

To conclude, we've found that Columbia Sportswear is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. And in the last five years, the stock has given away 19% so the market doesn't look too hopeful on these trends strengthening any time soon. All in all, the inherent trends aren't typical of multi-baggers, so if that's what you're after, we think you might have more luck elsewhere.

While Columbia Sportswear doesn't shine too bright in this respect, it's still worth seeing if the company is trading at attractive prices. You can find that out with our FREE intrinsic value estimation on our platform.

While Columbia Sportswear 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.