If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base 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. Having said that, from a first glance at ZipRecruiter (NYSE:ZIP) 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 ZipRecruiter:

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

0.19 = US$100m ÷ (US$634m - US$101m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

Therefore, ZipRecruiter has an ROCE of 19%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 7.0% generated by the Interactive Media and Services industry.

See our latest analysis for ZipRecruiter

In the above chart we have measured ZipRecruiter's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Does the ROCE Trend For ZipRecruiter Tell Us?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at ZipRecruiter, we didn't gain much confidence. Over the last three years, returns on capital have decreased to 19% from 32% three years ago. 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.

On a related note, ZipRecruiter has decreased its current liabilities to 16% 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.

The Bottom Line

In summary, we're somewhat concerned by ZipRecruiter's diminishing returns on increasing amounts of capital. Investors haven't taken kindly to these developments, since the stock has declined 28% from where it was year ago. With underlying trends that aren't great in these areas, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

If you want to know some of the risks facing ZipRecruiter we've found 4 warning signs (2 make us uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.