If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. 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. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think Armstrong World Industries (NYSE:AWI) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

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 Armstrong World Industries:

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

0.17 = US$251m ÷ (US$1.7b - US$195m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

So, Armstrong World Industries has an ROCE of 17%. In absolute terms, that's a pretty normal return, and it's somewhat close to the Building industry average of 16%.

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Armstrong World Industries 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 Armstrong World Industries .

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

There hasn't been much to report for Armstrong World Industries' returns and its level of capital employed because both metrics have been steady for the past 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 Armstrong World Industries in terms of ROCE and additional investments being made, we wouldn't hold our breath on it being a multi-bagger.

One more thing to note, even though ROCE has remained relatively flat over the last five years, the reduction in current liabilities to 12% of total assets, is good to see from a business owner's perspective. Effectively suppliers now fund less of the business, which can lower some elements of risk.

The Bottom Line On Armstrong World Industries' ROCE

In a nutshell, Armstrong World Industries has been trudging along with the same returns from the same amount of capital over the last five years. Since the stock has gained an impressive 75% over the last five years, investors must think there's better things to come. However, unless these underlying trends turn more positive, we wouldn't get our hopes up too high.

If you want to continue researching Armstrong World Industries, you might be interested to know about the 1 warning sign that our analysis has discovered.

While Armstrong World Industries 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.