adidas (ETR:ADS) Will Be Hoping To Turn Its Returns On Capital Around

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing 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. Although, when we looked at adidas (ETR:ADS), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

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 adidas:

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

0.02 = €211m ÷ (€19b - €8.7b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

Thus, adidas has an ROCE of 2.0%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Luxury industry average of 13%.

Check out our latest analysis for adidas

Above you can see how the current ROCE for adidas 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 report for adidas.

What Does the ROCE Trend For adidas Tell Us?

In terms of adidas' historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 2.0% from 29% five years ago. However it looks like adidas 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 may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.

Another thing to note, adidas has a high ratio of current liabilities to total assets of 45%. This can bring about some risks because the company is basically operating with a rather large reliance on its suppliers or other sorts of short-term creditors. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

What We Can Learn From adidas' ROCE

Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by adidas' reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. And in the last five years, the stock has given away 19% so the market doesn't look too hopeful on these trends strengthening any time soon. All in all, the inherent trends aren't typical of multi-baggers, so if that's what you're after, we think you might have more luck elsewhere.

One more thing, we've spotted 1 warning sign facing adidas that you might find interesting.

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.