If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. 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. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd (SHSE:688099) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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)

0.0018 = CN¥9.5m ÷ (CN¥6.2b - CN¥773m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

Therefore, Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd has an ROCE of 0.2%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Semiconductor industry average of 4.1%.

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 to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd.

How Are Returns Trending?

In terms of Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 20%, but since then they've fallen to 0.2%. And considering revenue has dropped while employing more capital, we'd be cautious. 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 side note, Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd has done well to pay down 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.

What We Can Learn From Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd's ROCE

We're a bit apprehensive about Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd because despite more capital being deployed in the business, returns on that capital and sales have both fallen. In spite of that, the stock has delivered a 4.4% return to shareholders who held over the last three years. Either way, we aren't huge fans of the current trends and so with that we think you might find better investments elsewhere.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing Amlogic (Shanghai)Ltd, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should be aware of.

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.