If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount 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. In light of that, when we looked at Winning Health Technology Group (SZSE:300253) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

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. To calculate this metric for Winning Health Technology Group, this is the formula:

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

0.023 = CN¥149m ÷ (CN¥7.9b - CN¥1.4b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

So, Winning Health Technology Group has an ROCE of 2.3%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Healthcare Services industry average of 11%.

In the above chart we have measured Winning Health Technology Group'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 analyst report for Winning Health Technology Group .

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Winning Health Technology Group, we didn't gain much confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 11% over the last five years. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.

Our Take On Winning Health Technology Group's ROCE

To conclude, we've found that Winning Health Technology Group is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. Since the stock has declined 27% over the last five years, investors may not be too optimistic on this trend improving either. On the whole, we aren't too inspired by the underlying trends and we think there may be better chances of finding a multi-bagger elsewhere.

On a final note, we've found 2 warning signs for Winning Health Technology Group that we think you should be aware of.

While Winning Health Technology Group 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.