Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? 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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. So when we looked at the ROCE trend of Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) we really liked what we saw.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. The formula for this calculation on Powell Industries is:

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

0.34 = US$152m ÷ (US$869m - US$418m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, Powell Industries has an ROCE of 34%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 12% earned by companies in a similar industry.

In the above chart we have measured Powell Industries' 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 Powell Industries .

How Are Returns Trending?

Investors would be pleased with what's happening at Powell Industries. The data shows that returns on capital have increased substantially over the last five years to 34%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 47% more capital is being employed now too. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Powell Industries thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

On a side note, we noticed that the improvement in ROCE appears to be partly fueled by an increase in current liabilities. Essentially the business now has suppliers or short-term creditors funding about 48% of its operations, which isn't ideal. Given it's pretty high ratio, we'd remind investors that having current liabilities at those levels can bring about some risks in certain businesses.

What We Can Learn From Powell Industries' ROCE

A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what Powell Industries has. Since the stock has returned a staggering 454% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.

If you want to continue researching Powell Industries, you might be interested to know about the 2 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning 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.