If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at IKD (SHSE:600933) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

Understanding 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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for IKD:

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

0.099 = CN¥1.1b ÷ (CN¥14b - CN¥2.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

Thus, IKD has an ROCE of 9.9%. In absolute terms, that's a low return, but it's much better than the Auto Components industry average of 7.0%.

Above you can see how the current ROCE for IKD compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering IKD for free.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

There are better returns on capital out there than what we're seeing at IKD. The company has employed 140% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 9.9%. Given the company has increased the amount of capital employed, it appears the investments that have been made simply don't provide a high return on capital.

On another note, while the change in ROCE trend might not scream for attention, it's interesting that the current liabilities have actually gone up over the last five years. This is intriguing because if current liabilities hadn't increased to 21% of total assets, this reported ROCE would probably be less than9.9% because total capital employed would be higher.The 9.9% ROCE could be even lower if current liabilities weren't 21% of total assets, because the the formula would show a larger base of total capital employed. With that in mind, just be wary if this ratio increases in the future, because if it gets particularly high, this brings with it some new elements of risk.

What We Can Learn From IKD's ROCE

In summary, IKD has simply been reinvesting capital and generating the same low rate of return as before. Investors must think there's better things to come because the stock has knocked it out of the park, delivering a 158% gain to shareholders who have held over the last five years. Ultimately, if the underlying trends persist, we wouldn't hold our breath on it being a multi-bagger going forward.

IKD does have some risks though, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for IKD that you might be interested in.

While IKD 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.