What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? 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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Although, when we looked at Sally Beauty Holdings (NYSE:SBH), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

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. The formula for this calculation on Sally Beauty Holdings is:

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

0.16 = US$352m ÷ (US$2.7b - US$579m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

So, Sally Beauty Holdings has an ROCE of 16%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 12% generated by the Specialty Retail industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Sally Beauty Holdings

In the above chart we have measured Sally Beauty Holdings' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Sally Beauty Holdings.

The Trend Of ROCE

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at Sally Beauty Holdings doesn't inspire confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 16% from 29% five years ago. However it looks like Sally Beauty Holdings might be reinvesting for long term growth because while capital employed has increased, the company's sales haven't changed much in the last 12 months. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

The Key Takeaway

To conclude, we've found that Sally Beauty Holdings is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. And investors appear hesitant that the trends will pick up because the stock has fallen 54% in the last five years. On the whole, we aren't too inspired by the underlying trends and we think there may be better chances of finding a multi-bagger elsewhere.

On a separate note, we've found 1 warning sign for Sally Beauty Holdings you'll probably want to know about.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and 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.