If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, 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. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Yunnan Nantian Electronics InformationLtd's (SZSE:000948) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

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

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Yunnan Nantian Electronics InformationLtd:

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

0.049 = CN¥172m ÷ (CN¥8.5b - CN¥4.9b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

So, Yunnan Nantian Electronics InformationLtd has an ROCE of 4.9%. In absolute terms, that's a low return, but it's much better than the IT industry average of 3.9%.

See our latest analysis for Yunnan Nantian Electronics InformationLtd

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Yunnan Nantian Electronics InformationLtd's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you want to delve into the historical earnings, revenue and cash flow of Yunnan Nantian Electronics InformationLtd, check out these free graphs here.

So How Is Yunnan Nantian Electronics InformationLtd's ROCE Trending?

Even though ROCE is still low in absolute terms, it's good to see it's heading in the right direction. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 4.9%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 146%. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, a combination that's common among multi-baggers.

For the record though, there was a noticeable increase in the company's current liabilities over the period, so we would attribute some of the ROCE growth to that. Essentially the business now has suppliers or short-term creditors funding about 58% of its operations, which isn't ideal. Given it's pretty high ratio, we'd remind investors that having current liabilities at those levels can bring about some risks in certain businesses.

What We Can Learn From Yunnan Nantian Electronics InformationLtd's ROCE

A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what Yunnan Nantian Electronics InformationLtd has. And a remarkable 140% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

On a final note, we've found 1 warning sign for Yunnan Nantian Electronics InformationLtd that we think you should be aware of.

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.

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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.