If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at TravelSky Technology (HKG:696) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for TravelSky Technology:

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

0.072 = CN¥1.6b ÷ (CN¥30b - CN¥7.9b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, TravelSky Technology has an ROCE of 7.2%. Even though it's in line with the industry average of 7.0%, it's still a low return by itself.

See our latest analysis for TravelSky Technology

Above you can see how the current ROCE for TravelSky Technology compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for TravelSky Technology .

How Are Returns Trending?

In terms of TravelSky Technology's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 13% over the last five years. Although, given both revenue and the amount of assets employed in the business have increased, it could suggest the company is investing in growth, and the extra capital has led to a short-term reduction in ROCE. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

The Bottom Line On TravelSky Technology's ROCE

In summary, despite lower returns in the short term, we're encouraged to see that TravelSky Technology is reinvesting for growth and has higher sales as a result. However, despite the promising trends, the stock has fallen 44% over the last five years, so there might be an opportunity here for astute investors. As a result, we'd recommend researching this stock further to uncover what other fundamentals of the business can show us.

TravelSky Technology could be trading at an attractive price in other respects, so you might find our free intrinsic value estimation for 696 on our platform quite valuable.

While TravelSky Technology isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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.