To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Having said that, from a first glance at Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

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 Travel + Leisure is:

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

0.14 = US$749m ÷ (US$6.7b - US$1.2b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

Therefore, Travel + Leisure has an ROCE of 14%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Hospitality industry average of 8.5% it's much better.

Check out our latest analysis for Travel + Leisure

In the above chart we have measured Travel + Leisure's 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 Travel + Leisure for free.

What Can We Tell From Travel + Leisure's ROCE Trend?

Over the past five years, Travel + Leisure's ROCE and capital employed have both remained mostly flat. It's not uncommon to see this when looking at a mature and stable business that isn't re-investing its earnings because it has likely passed that phase of the business cycle. With that in mind, unless investment picks up again in the future, we wouldn't expect Travel + Leisure to be a multi-bagger going forward.

The Bottom Line

We can conclude that in regards to Travel + Leisure's returns on capital employed and the trends, there isn't much change to report on. Since the stock has gained an impressive 42% over the last five years, investors must think there's better things to come. However, unless these underlying trends turn more positive, we wouldn't get our hopes up too high.

One final note, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Travel + Leisure (including 1 which shouldn't be ignored) .

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.

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.