Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. 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. So when we looked at Aritzia (TSE:ATZ) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.
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 Aritzia:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.17 = CA$339m ÷ (CA$2.5b - CA$502m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2025).
Thus, Aritzia has an ROCE of 17%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Specialty Retail industry average of 11% it's much better.
Check out our latest analysis for Aritzia
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Aritzia 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 Aritzia .
How Are Returns Trending?
The trends we've noticed at Aritzia are quite reassuring. The data shows that returns on capital have increased substantially over the last five years to 17%. 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 131%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Aritzia thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.
The Bottom Line On Aritzia's ROCE
In summary, it's great to see that Aritzia 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 stock has returned a staggering 307% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Aritzia can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.
While Aritzia looks impressive, no company is worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic for ATZ helps visualize whether it is currently trading for a fair price.
While Aritzia 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.
About TSX:ATZ
Aritzia
Designs, develops, and sells apparels and accessories for women in the United States and Canada.
Outstanding track record with flawless balance sheet.
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