To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. However, after investigating Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd (SHSE:688798), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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. The formula for this calculation on Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd is:

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

0.0038 = CN¥15m ÷ (CN¥4.8b - CN¥948m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

Thus, Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd has an ROCE of 0.4%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Semiconductor industry average of 5.3%.

In the above chart we have measured Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd'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 Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd for free.

So How Is Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd's ROCE Trending?

In terms of Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 0.4% from 25% five years ago. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

On a related note, Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd has decreased its current liabilities to 20% 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.

What We Can Learn From Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd's ROCE

While returns have fallen for Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd in recent times, we're encouraged to see that sales are growing and that the business is reinvesting in its operations. However, despite the promising trends, the stock has fallen 22% over the last year, so there might be an opportunity here for astute investors. As a result, we'd recommend researching this stock further to uncover what other fundamentals of the business can show us.

While Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd 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 for 688798 on our platform.

While Shanghai Awinic TechnologyLtd 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.