If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. Having said that, from a first glance at SUPCON Technology (SHSE:688777) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

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. To calculate this metric for SUPCON Technology, this is the formula:

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

0.077 = CN¥767m ÷ (CN¥18b - CN¥7.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Therefore, SUPCON Technology has an ROCE of 7.7%. In absolute terms, that's a low return, but it's much better than the Electronic industry average of 5.1%.

Check out our latest analysis for SUPCON Technology

In the above chart we have measured SUPCON Technology's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for SUPCON Technology.

The Trend Of ROCE

When we looked at the ROCE trend at SUPCON Technology, we didn't gain much confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 7.7% from 21% 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. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.

On a side note, SUPCON Technology has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 44% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. 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. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it's own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE. Keep in mind 44% is still pretty high, so those risks are still somewhat prevalent.

The Key Takeaway

In summary, despite lower returns in the short term, we're encouraged to see that SUPCON Technology is reinvesting for growth and has higher sales as a result. These growth trends haven't led to growth returns though, since the stock has fallen 27% over the last year. So we think it'd be worthwhile to look further into this stock given the trends look encouraging.

On a final note, we found 3 warning signs for SUPCON Technology (1 is concerning) you should be aware of.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high 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.