There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. However, after investigating Shenzhen Guangju Energy (SZSE:000096), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Shenzhen Guangju Energy, this is the formula:

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

0.02 = CN¥53m ÷ (CN¥2.8b - CN¥110m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

So, Shenzhen Guangju Energy has an ROCE of 2.0%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Oil and Gas industry average of 12%.

View our latest analysis for Shenzhen Guangju Energy

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Shenzhen Guangju Energy's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you'd like to look at how Shenzhen Guangju Energy has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Are Returns Trending?

Things have been pretty stable at Shenzhen Guangju Energy, with its capital employed and returns on that capital staying somewhat the same for the last five years. It's not uncommon to see this when looking at a mature and stable business that isn't re-investing its earnings because it has likely passed that phase of the business cycle. So unless we see a substantial change at Shenzhen Guangju Energy in terms of ROCE and additional investments being made, we wouldn't hold our breath on it being a multi-bagger.

The Bottom Line On Shenzhen Guangju Energy's ROCE

In summary, Shenzhen Guangju Energy isn't compounding its earnings but is generating stable returns on the same amount of capital employed. Unsurprisingly, the stock has only gained 17% over the last five years, which potentially indicates that investors are accounting for this going forward. So if you're looking for a multi-bagger, the underlying trends indicate you may have better chances elsewhere.

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

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.