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. So when we looked at the ROCE trend of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) we really liked what we saw.

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

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. The formula for this calculation on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile is:

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

0.20 = US$1.7b ÷ (US$11b - US$2.4b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has an ROCE of 20%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 8.4% earned by companies in a similar industry.

See our latest analysis for Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

In the above chart we have measured Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile's 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 Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile .

What Can We Tell From Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile's ROCE Trend?

Investors would be pleased with what's happening at Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 20%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 125%. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.

The Key Takeaway

In summary, it's great to see that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile can compound returns by consistently reinvesting capital at increasing rates of return, because these are some of the key ingredients of those highly sought after multi-baggers. And investors seem to expect more of this going forward, since the stock has rewarded shareholders with a 92% return over the last five years. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.

If you'd like to know more about Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, we've spotted 3 warning signs, and 2 of them are a bit unpleasant.

If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning high returns on equity.

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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.