There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next 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. That's why when we briefly looked at Accenture's (NYSE:ACN) ROCE trend, we were very happy with what we saw.

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Accenture:

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

0.24 = US$10b ÷ (US$60b - US$17b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to November 2024).

Therefore, Accenture has an ROCE of 24%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the IT industry average of 11%.

In the above chart we have measured Accenture'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 analyst report for Accenture .

So How Is Accenture's ROCE Trending?

Accenture deserves to be commended in regards to it's returns. The company has consistently earned 24% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 94% in that time. Returns like this are the envy of most businesses and given it has repeatedly reinvested at these rates, that's even better. If Accenture can keep this up, we'd be very optimistic about its future.

What We Can Learn From Accenture's ROCE

Accenture has demonstrated its proficiency by generating high returns on increasing amounts of capital employed, which we're thrilled about. And the stock has followed suit returning a meaningful 85% to shareholders over the last five years. So while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

On the other side of ROCE, we have to consider valuation. That's why we have a FREE intrinsic value estimation for ACN on our platform that is definitely worth checking out.

High returns are a key ingredient to strong performance, so check out our free list ofstocks earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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.