If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Ambertech's (ASX:AMO) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Ambertech, this is the formula:

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

0.098 = AU$2.7m ÷ (AU$51m - AU$23m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, Ambertech has an ROCE of 9.8%. In absolute terms, that's a low return, but it's much better than the Electronic industry average of 7.9%.

View our latest analysis for Ambertech

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Ambertech's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you'd like to look at how Ambertech has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of Ambertech's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

The Trend Of ROCE

The fact that Ambertech is now generating some pre-tax profits from its prior investments is very encouraging. About five years ago the company was generating losses but things have turned around because it's now earning 9.8% on its capital. In addition to that, Ambertech is employing 215% more capital than previously which is expected of a company that's trying to break into profitability. We like this trend, because it tells us the company has profitable reinvestment opportunities available to it, and if it continues going forward that can lead to a multi-bagger performance.

One more thing to note, Ambertech has decreased current liabilities to 45% of total assets over this period, which effectively reduces the amount of funding from suppliers or short-term creditors. So shareholders would be pleased that the growth in returns has mostly come from underlying business performance. However, current liabilities are still at a pretty high level, so just be aware that this can bring with it some risks.

The Bottom Line

Long story short, we're delighted to see that Ambertech's reinvestment activities have paid off and the company is now profitable. And with a respectable 92% awarded to those who held the stock over the last five years, you could argue that these developments are starting to get the attention they deserve. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

On a final note, we found 2 warning signs for Ambertech (1 is significant) you should be aware of.

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.