To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. Although, when we looked at Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Advanced Energy Industries:

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

0.035 = US$67m ÷ (US$2.2b - US$292m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

Therefore, Advanced Energy Industries has an ROCE of 3.5%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Electronic industry average of 10%.

View our latest analysis for Advanced Energy Industries

In the above chart we have measured Advanced Energy 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 Advanced Energy Industries .

How Are Returns Trending?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Advanced Energy Industries, we didn't gain much confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 5.1%, but since then they've fallen to 3.5%. And considering revenue has dropped while employing more capital, we'd be cautious. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased.

The Bottom Line

We're a bit apprehensive about Advanced Energy Industries because despite more capital being deployed in the business, returns on that capital and sales have both fallen. But investors must be expecting an improvement of sorts because over the last five yearsthe stock has delivered a respectable 75% return. In any case, the current underlying trends don't bode well for long term performance so unless they reverse, we'd start looking elsewhere.

One more thing, we've spotted 3 warning signs facing Advanced Energy Industries that you might find interesting.

While Advanced Energy Industries 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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