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. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at Shaanxi Sirui Advanced Materials (SHSE:688102) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

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

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. The formula for this calculation on Shaanxi Sirui Advanced Materials is:

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

0.078 = CN¥117m ÷ (CN¥2.0b - CN¥505m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

Thus, Shaanxi Sirui Advanced Materials has an ROCE of 7.8%. In absolute terms, that's a low return but it's around the Metals and Mining industry average of 6.8%.

In the above chart we have measured Shaanxi Sirui Advanced Materials' 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 Shaanxi Sirui Advanced Materials for free.

The Trend Of ROCE

In terms of Shaanxi Sirui Advanced Materials' historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 11% over the last five years. Although, given both revenue and the amount of assets employed in the business have increased, it could suggest the company is investing in growth, and the extra capital has led to a short-term reduction in ROCE. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

On a side note, Shaanxi Sirui Advanced Materials has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 25% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.

The Bottom Line On Shaanxi Sirui Advanced Materials' ROCE

Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for Shaanxi Sirui Advanced Materials. And there could be an opportunity here if other metrics look good too, because the stock has declined 12% in the last year. So we think it'd be worthwhile to look further into this stock given the trends look encouraging.

If you want to continue researching Shaanxi Sirui Advanced Materials, you might be interested to know about the 3 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

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.

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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.