To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. 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 SUNeVision Holdings (HKG:1686), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

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 SUNeVision Holdings is:

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

0.063 = HK$1.2b ÷ (HK$21b - HK$2.0b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

Thus, SUNeVision Holdings has an ROCE of 6.3%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 6.6% average generated by the IT industry.

Check out our latest analysis for SUNeVision Holdings

Above you can see how the current ROCE for SUNeVision Holdings compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Does the ROCE Trend For SUNeVision Holdings Tell Us?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at SUNeVision Holdings, we didn't gain much confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 6.3% from 12% five years ago. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

The Bottom Line

Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for SUNeVision Holdings. These growth trends haven't led to growth returns though, since the stock has fallen 28% over the last five years. As a result, we'd recommend researching this stock further to uncover what other fundamentals of the business can show us.

One more thing: We've identified 2 warning signs with SUNeVision Holdings (at least 1 which is concerning) , and understanding these would certainly be useful.

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

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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.