Investors Will Want Sonova Holding's (VTX:SOON) Growth In ROCE To Persist

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. 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 Sonova Holding (VTX:SOON) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

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

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 Sonova Holding:

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

0.18 = CHF784m ÷ (CHF5.6b - CHF1.1b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).

So, Sonova Holding has an ROCE of 18%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 14% generated by the Medical Equipment industry.

View our latest analysis for Sonova Holding

In the above chart we have measured Sonova Holding's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Sonova Holding Tell Us?

The trends we've noticed at Sonova Holding are quite reassuring. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 18%. 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 27%. 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.

In Conclusion...

A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what Sonova Holding has. Investors may not be impressed by the favorable underlying trends yet because over the last five years the stock has only returned 26% to shareholders. Given that, we'd look further into this stock in case it has more traits that could make it multiply in the long term.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing Sonova Holding, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should be aware of.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high 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.