If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing 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. That's why when we briefly looked at Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics' (SZSE:300760) ROCE trend, we were very happy with what we saw.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics:

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

0.31 = CN¥12b ÷ (CN¥50b - CN¥10b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Therefore, Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics has an ROCE of 31%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Medical Equipment industry average of 9.2%.

In the above chart we have measured Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics' 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 Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics .

The Trend Of ROCE

We'd be pretty happy with returns on capital like Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics. The company has consistently earned 31% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 282% in that time. With returns that high, it's great that the business can continually reinvest its money at such appealing rates of return. You'll see this when looking at well operated businesses or favorable business models.

One more thing to note, even though ROCE has remained relatively flat over the last five years, the reduction in current liabilities to 20% of total assets, is good to see from a business owner's perspective. This can eliminate some of the risks inherent in the operations because the business has less outstanding obligations to their suppliers and or short-term creditors than they did previously.

In Conclusion...

Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics has demonstrated its proficiency by generating high returns on increasing amounts of capital employed, which we're thrilled about. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 127% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

On a final note, we've found 1 warning sign for Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics that we think you should be aware of.

Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.

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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.