There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. Having said that, from a first glance at Sichuan Tianwei ElectronicLtd (SHSE:688511) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Sichuan Tianwei ElectronicLtd:

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

0.056 = CN¥48m ÷ (CN¥908m - CN¥59m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

So, Sichuan Tianwei ElectronicLtd has an ROCE of 5.6%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 5.3% average generated by the Aerospace & Defense industry.

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Sichuan Tianwei ElectronicLtd's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of Sichuan Tianwei ElectronicLtd.

So How Is Sichuan Tianwei ElectronicLtd's ROCE Trending?

In terms of Sichuan Tianwei ElectronicLtd's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 5.6% from 9.1% five years ago. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.

On a related note, Sichuan Tianwei ElectronicLtd has decreased its current liabilities to 6.5% 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. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.

The Key Takeaway

In summary, despite lower returns in the short term, we're encouraged to see that Sichuan Tianwei ElectronicLtd is reinvesting for growth and has higher sales as a result. And there could be an opportunity here if other metrics look good too, because the stock has declined 27% in the last year. So we think it'd be worthwhile to look further into this stock given the trends look encouraging.

One final note, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Sichuan Tianwei ElectronicLtd (including 1 which is potentially serious) .

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and 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.