If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. That's why when we briefly looked at China Ludao Technology's (HKG:2023) ROCE trend, we were pretty happy with what we saw.

What Is 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 China Ludao Technology:

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

0.10 = CN¥84m ÷ (CN¥1.4b - CN¥633m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, China Ludao Technology has an ROCE of 10%. In absolute terms, that's a pretty normal return, and it's somewhat close to the Household Products industry average of 11%.

Check out our latest analysis for China Ludao Technology

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for China Ludao Technology's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of China Ludao Technology.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

The trend of ROCE doesn't stand out much, but returns on a whole are decent. The company has employed 83% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 10%. 10% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that China Ludao Technology has consistently earned this amount. Over long periods of time, returns like these might not be too exciting, but with consistency they can pay off in terms of share price returns.

On a side note, China Ludao Technology's current liabilities are still rather high at 44% of total assets. This can bring about some risks because the company is basically operating with a rather large reliance on its suppliers or other sorts of short-term creditors. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

Our Take On China Ludao Technology's ROCE

The main thing to remember is that China Ludao Technology has proven its ability to continually reinvest at respectable rates of return. In light of this, the stock has only gained 4.7% over the last five years for shareholders who have owned the stock in this period. That's why it could be worth your time looking into this stock further to discover if it has more traits of a multi-bagger.

One final note, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with China Ludao Technology (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.