Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential 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. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Hangzhou Zhongtai Cryogenic Technology (SZSE:300435) so let's look a bit deeper.
Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Hangzhou Zhongtai Cryogenic Technology:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.091 = CN¥299m ÷ (CN¥4.7b - CN¥1.4b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).
Thus, Hangzhou Zhongtai Cryogenic Technology has an ROCE of 9.1%. On its own that's a low return, but compared to the average of 5.5% generated by the Machinery industry, it's much better.
View our latest analysis for Hangzhou Zhongtai Cryogenic Technology
In the above chart we have measured Hangzhou Zhongtai Cryogenic Technology'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 Hangzhou Zhongtai Cryogenic Technology for free.
We're glad to see that ROCE is heading in the right direction, even if it is still low at the moment. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 9.1%. The amount of capital employed has increased too, by 277%. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.
In another part of our analysis, we noticed that the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets decreased to 30%, which broadly means the business is relying less on its suppliers or short-term creditors to fund its operations. Therefore we can rest assured that the growth in ROCE is a result of the business' fundamental improvements, rather than a cooking class featuring this company's books.
In summary, it's great to see that Hangzhou Zhongtai Cryogenic Technology 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. Since the total return from the stock has been almost flat over the last five years, there might be an opportunity here if the valuation looks good. So researching this company further and determining whether or not these trends will continue seems justified.
Hangzhou Zhongtai Cryogenic Technology does have some risks though, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Hangzhou Zhongtai Cryogenic Technology that you might be interested in.
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.