What financial metrics can indicate to us that a company is maturing or even in decline? Businesses in decline often have two underlying trends, firstly, a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) and a declining base of capital employed. Trends like this ultimately mean the business is reducing its investments and also earning less on what it has invested. On that note, looking into Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB), we weren't too upbeat about how things were going.

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

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Proto Labs is:

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

0.045 = US$32m ÷ (US$758m - US$51m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

So, Proto Labs has an ROCE of 4.5%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Machinery industry average of 13%.

See our latest analysis for Proto Labs

In the above chart we have measured Proto Labs' 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 Proto Labs for free.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Proto Labs Tell Us?

We are a bit worried about the trend of returns on capital at Proto Labs. Unfortunately the returns on capital have diminished from the 14% that they were earning five years ago. And on the capital employed front, the business is utilizing roughly the same amount of capital as it was back then. Since returns are falling and the business has the same amount of assets employed, this can suggest it's a mature business that hasn't had much growth in the last five years. If these trends continue, we wouldn't expect Proto Labs to turn into a multi-bagger.

Our Take On Proto Labs' ROCE

In the end, the trend of lower returns on the same amount of capital isn't typically an indication that we're looking at a growth stock. This could explain why the stock has sunk a total of 74% in the last five years. With underlying trends that aren't great in these areas, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

One more thing, we've spotted 1 warning sign facing Proto Labs that you might find interesting.

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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