Returns On Capital At Arad (TLV:ARD) Paint A Concerning Picture

What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Although, when we looked at Arad (TLV:ARD), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

What is 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. To calculate this metric for Arad, this is the formula:

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

0.12 = US$22m ÷ (US$286m - US$95m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

Thus, Arad has an ROCE of 12%. In absolute terms, that's a pretty normal return, and it's somewhat close to the Electronic industry average of 11%.

See our latest analysis for Arad

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Arad's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you're interested in investigating Arad's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

So How Is Arad's ROCE Trending?

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at Arad doesn't inspire confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 17% over the last five years. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

The Bottom Line

To conclude, we've found that Arad is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. Although the market must be expecting these trends to improve because the stock has gained 81% over the last five years. However, unless these underlying trends turn more positive, we wouldn't get our hopes up too high.

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

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. 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.
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