There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at Rainbow Digital Commercial (SZSE:002419) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

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

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 Rainbow Digital Commercial, this is the formula:

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

0.011 = CN¥184m ÷ (CN¥28b - CN¥12b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

So, Rainbow Digital Commercial has an ROCE of 1.1%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Multiline Retail industry average of 4.9%.

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Rainbow Digital Commercial 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 analyst report for Rainbow Digital Commercial .

The Trend Of ROCE

In terms of Rainbow Digital Commercial's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 15%, but since then they've fallen to 1.1%. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.

On a related note, Rainbow Digital Commercial has decreased its current liabilities to 41% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money. Keep in mind 41% is still pretty high, so those risks are still somewhat prevalent.

The Bottom Line

Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by Rainbow Digital Commercial's reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. Since the stock has declined 62% over the last five years, investors may not be too optimistic on this trend improving either. All in all, the inherent trends aren't typical of multi-baggers, so if that's what you're after, we think you might have more luck elsewhere.

On a separate note, we've found 2 warning signs for Rainbow Digital Commercial you'll probably want to know about.

While Rainbow Digital Commercial 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.