What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount 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. Although, when we looked at Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

Understanding 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 Zebra Technologies:

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

0.10 = US$585m ÷ (US$7.3b - US$1.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

Therefore, Zebra Technologies has an ROCE of 10%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 12% generated by the Electronic industry.

In the above chart we have measured Zebra Technologies' 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 Zebra Technologies here for free.

So How Is Zebra Technologies' ROCE Trending?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Zebra Technologies, we didn't gain much confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 21% over the last five years. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased.

The Bottom Line

In summary, we're somewhat concerned by Zebra Technologies' diminishing returns on increasing amounts of capital. Despite the concerning underlying trends, the stock has actually gained 35% over the last five years, so it might be that the investors are expecting the trends to reverse. Either way, we aren't huge fans of the current trends and so with that we think you might find better investments elsewhere.

Zebra Technologies does have some risks, we noticed 2 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about.

While Zebra Technologies may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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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.