Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? 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. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in PTC's (NASDAQ:PTC) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

What Is 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. To calculate this metric for PTC, this is the formula:

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

0.11 = US$533m ÷ (US$6.2b - US$1.5b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

So, PTC has an ROCE of 11%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 7.2% generated by the Software industry.

In the above chart we have measured PTC'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 PTC .

What Can We Tell From PTC's ROCE Trend?

We like the trends that we're seeing from PTC. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 11%. 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 122%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at PTC thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

What We Can Learn From PTC's ROCE

All in all, it's terrific to see that PTC is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. And a remarkable 115% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing PTC, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.

While PTC 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.