To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think Allmed Medical ProductsLtd (SZSE:002950) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

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 Allmed Medical ProductsLtd is:

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

0.11 = CN¥440m ÷ (CN¥5.2b - CN¥1.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Therefore, Allmed Medical ProductsLtd has an ROCE of 11%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Medical Equipment industry average of 8.2% it's much better.

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you're interested in investigating Allmed Medical ProductsLtd's past further, check out this free graph covering Allmed Medical ProductsLtd's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Can We Tell From Allmed Medical ProductsLtd's ROCE Trend?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Allmed Medical ProductsLtd, we didn't gain much confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 16%, but since then they've fallen to 11%. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased.

On a side note, Allmed Medical ProductsLtd has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 26% 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. 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.

The Key Takeaway

We're a bit apprehensive about Allmed Medical ProductsLtd because despite more capital being deployed in the business, returns on that capital and sales have both fallen. It should come as no surprise then that the stock has fallen 56% over the last three years, so it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. With underlying trends that aren't great in these areas, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

On a final note, we found 2 warning signs for Allmed Medical ProductsLtd (1 is potentially serious) you should be aware of.

While Allmed Medical ProductsLtd isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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.