What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? 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. So on that note, Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

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

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. To calculate this metric for Schlumberger, this is the formula:

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

0.16 = US$5.5b ÷ (US$48b - US$13b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

So, Schlumberger has an ROCE of 16%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Energy Services industry average of 13% it's much better.

In the above chart we have measured Schlumberger's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Schlumberger here for free.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Schlumberger Tell Us?

We're pretty happy with how the ROCE has been trending at Schlumberger. The figures show that over the last five years, returns on capital have grown by 184%. That's not bad because this tells for every dollar invested (capital employed), the company is increasing the amount earned from that dollar. In regards to capital employed, Schlumberger appears to been achieving more with less, since the business is using 39% less capital to run its operation. A business that's shrinking its asset base like this isn't usually typical of a soon to be multi-bagger company.

What We Can Learn From Schlumberger's ROCE

In the end, Schlumberger has proven it's capital allocation skills are good with those higher returns from less amount of capital. Considering the stock has delivered 21% to its stockholders over the last five years, it may be fair to think that investors aren't fully aware of the promising trends yet. So exploring more about this stock could uncover a good opportunity, if the valuation and other metrics stack up.

One more thing, we've spotted 2 warning signs facing Schlumberger that you might find interesting.

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.

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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.