To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. Although, when we looked at TTEC Holdings (NASDAQ:TTEC), 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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for TTEC Holdings:

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

0.065 = US$112m ÷ (US$2.1b - US$384m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

Thus, TTEC Holdings has an ROCE of 6.5%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Professional Services industry average of 14%.

In the above chart we have measured TTEC Holdings' 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 TTEC Holdings for free.

How Are Returns Trending?

In terms of TTEC Holdings' historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 6.5% from 12% five years ago. However it looks like TTEC Holdings 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.

The Bottom Line On TTEC Holdings' ROCE

To conclude, we've found that TTEC Holdings is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. It seems that investors have little hope of these trends getting any better and that may have partly contributed to the stock collapsing 81% in the last five years. On the whole, we aren't too inspired by the underlying trends and we think there may be better chances of finding a multi-bagger elsewhere.

One more thing to note, we've identified 2 warning signs with TTEC Holdings and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

While TTEC Holdings 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.