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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology's (SZSE:002690) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

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 Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology is:

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

0.26 = CN¥700m ÷ (CN¥3.3b - CN¥613m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Therefore, Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology has an ROCE of 26%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Machinery industry average of 6.3%.

Check out our latest analysis for Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology

In the above chart we have measured Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology'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 report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology Tell Us?

Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology has not disappointed with their ROCE growth. More specifically, while the company has kept capital employed relatively flat over the last five years, the ROCE has climbed 41% in that same time. So it's likely that the business is now reaping the full benefits of its past investments, since the capital employed hasn't changed considerably. On that front, things are looking good so it's worth exploring what management has said about growth plans going forward.

What We Can Learn From Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology's ROCE

To bring it all together, Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology has done well to increase the returns it's generating from its capital employed. Considering the stock has delivered 36% 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.

If you want to continue researching Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology, you might be interested to know about the 1 warning sign that our analysis has discovered.

High returns are a key ingredient to strong performance, so check out our free list ofstocks 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.