Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. However, after investigating Brinker International (NYSE:EAT), 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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Brinker International:

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

0.11 = US$219m ÷ (US$2.5b - US$542m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Therefore, Brinker International has an ROCE of 11%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 9.1% generated by the Hospitality industry.

See our latest analysis for Brinker International

In the above chart we have measured Brinker International's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Brinker International here for free.

The Trend Of ROCE

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Brinker International, we didn't gain much confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 34%, but since then they've fallen to 11%. However it looks like Brinker International might be reinvesting for long term growth because while capital employed has increased, the company's sales haven't changed much in the last 12 months. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

On a side note, Brinker International has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 22% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. Effectively this means their suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of the business, which reduces some elements of risk. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.

In Conclusion...

To conclude, we've found that Brinker International is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. And investors appear hesitant that the trends will pick up because the stock has fallen 23% in the last five years. Therefore based on the analysis done in this article, we don't think Brinker International has the makings of a multi-bagger.

One more thing, we've spotted 2 warning signs facing Brinker International that you might find interesting.

While Brinker International 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.