If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Having said that, from a first glance at Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd (SHSE:688099) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

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

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 Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd, this is the formula:

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

0.025 = CN¥140m ÷ (CN¥6.4b - CN¥809m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

So, Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd has an ROCE of 2.5%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Semiconductor industry average of 4.4%.

View our latest analysis for Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd

In the above chart we have measured Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd'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 Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd here for free.

So How Is Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd's ROCE Trending?

In terms of Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 22% over the last five years. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. This could mean that the business is losing its competitive advantage or market share, because while more money is being put into ventures, it's actually producing a lower return - "less bang for their buck" per se.

On a related note, Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd has decreased its current liabilities to 13% 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.

The Bottom Line

From the above analysis, we find it rather worrisome that returns on capital and sales for Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd have fallen, meanwhile the business is employing more capital than it was five years ago. It should come as no surprise then that the stock has fallen 17% over the last three years, so it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. That being the case, unless the underlying trends revert to a more positive trajectory, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

If you want to continue researching Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd, you might be interested to know about the 2 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

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.