What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? 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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Hangzhou CNCR-ITLtd (SZSE:300250) so let's look a bit deeper.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Hangzhou CNCR-ITLtd:

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

0.038 = CN¥24m ÷ (CN¥788m - CN¥172m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

Therefore, Hangzhou CNCR-ITLtd has an ROCE of 3.8%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Communications industry average of 4.9%.

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you'd like to look at how Hangzhou CNCR-ITLtd has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of Hangzhou CNCR-ITLtd's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Hangzhou CNCR-ITLtd Tell Us?

It's nice to see that ROCE is headed in the right direction, even if it is still relatively low. The figures show that over the last five years, returns on capital have grown by 279%. That's not bad because this tells for every dollar invested (capital employed), the company is increasing the amount earned from that dollar. Interestingly, the business may be becoming more efficient because it's applying 53% less capital than it was five years ago. Hangzhou CNCR-ITLtd may be selling some assets so it's worth investigating if the business has plans for future investments to increase returns further still.

The Bottom Line On Hangzhou CNCR-ITLtd's ROCE

In the end, Hangzhou CNCR-ITLtd has proven it's capital allocation skills are good with those higher returns from less amount of capital. And given the stock has remained rather flat over the last five years, there might be an opportunity here if other metrics are strong. So researching this company further and determining whether or not these trends will continue seems justified.

Before jumping to any conclusions though, we need to know what value we're getting for the current share price. That's where you can check out our FREE intrinsic value estimation for 300250 that compares the share price and estimated value.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.