What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) so let's look a bit deeper.

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

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Universal Display:

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

0.14 = US$217m ÷ (US$1.7b - US$119m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

So, Universal Display has an ROCE of 14%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Semiconductor industry average of 9.7% it's much better.

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Universal Display compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for Universal Display .

What Can We Tell From Universal Display's ROCE Trend?

Universal Display is displaying some positive trends. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 14%. 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 94%. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, a combination that's common among multi-baggers.

The Key Takeaway

In summary, it's great to see that Universal Display can compound returns by consistently reinvesting capital at increasing rates of return, because these are some of the key ingredients of those highly sought after multi-baggers. Investors may not be impressed by the favorable underlying trends yet because over the last five years the stock has only returned 0.3% to shareholders. So exploring more about this stock could uncover a good opportunity, if the valuation and other metrics stack up.

Universal Display does come with some risks though, we found 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is significant...

While Universal Display may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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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.