What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. With that in mind, the ROCE of Techtronic Industries (HKG:669) looks decent, right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.

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

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. To calculate this metric for Techtronic Industries, this is the formula:

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

0.15 = US$1.2b ÷ (US$13b - US$5.1b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, Techtronic Industries has an ROCE of 15%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 9.0% generated by the Machinery industry.

See our latest analysis for Techtronic Industries

In the above chart we have measured Techtronic Industries' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free analyst report for Techtronic Industries .

What Does the ROCE Trend For Techtronic Industries Tell Us?

The trend of ROCE doesn't stand out much, but returns on a whole are decent. Over the past five years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 15% and the business has deployed 92% more capital into its operations. 15% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Techtronic Industries has consistently earned this amount. Stable returns in this ballpark can be unexciting, but if they can be maintained over the long run, they often provide nice rewards to shareholders.

What We Can Learn From Techtronic Industries' ROCE

The main thing to remember is that Techtronic Industries has proven its ability to continually reinvest at respectable rates of return. Therefore it's no surprise that shareholders have earned a respectable 72% return if they held over the last five years. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we still believe the stock deserves further research.

Techtronic Industries could be trading at an attractive price in other respects, so you might find our free intrinsic value estimation for 669 on our platform quite valuable.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high 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.