Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? 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. With that in mind, the ROCE of Buckle (NYSE:BKE) looks great, so lets see what the trend can tell us.

Understanding 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 Buckle is:

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

0.40 = US$284m ÷ (US$921m - US$216m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to October 2023).

Thus, Buckle has an ROCE of 40%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Specialty Retail industry average of 12%.

Check out our latest analysis for Buckle

In the above chart we have measured Buckle'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 Buckle here for free.

What Can We Tell From Buckle's ROCE Trend?

Investors would be pleased with what's happening at Buckle. The data shows that returns on capital have increased substantially over the last five years to 40%. 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 54%. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.

What We Can Learn From Buckle'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 Buckle has. And a remarkable 304% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Buckle can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.

If you'd like to know more about Buckle, we've spotted 2 warning signs, and 1 of them shouldn't be ignored.

If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning 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.