Stock Analysis

Apollo Micro Systems (NSE:APOLLO) Has More To Do To Multiply In Value Going Forward

NSEI:APOLLO
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If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? 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. 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, the ROCE of Apollo Micro Systems (NSE:APOLLO) looks decent, right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.

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 Apollo Micro Systems:

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

0.13 = ₹540m ÷ (₹6.9b - ₹2.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).

Therefore, Apollo Micro Systems has an ROCE of 13%. By itself that's a normal return on capital and it's in line with the industry's average returns of 13%.

See our latest analysis for Apollo Micro Systems

roce
NSEI:APOLLO Return on Capital Employed June 16th 2023

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you want to delve into the historical earnings, revenue and cash flow of Apollo Micro Systems, check out these free graphs here.

SWOT Analysis for Apollo Micro Systems

Strength
  • Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.
  • Debt is well covered by .
Weakness
  • Interest payments on debt are not well covered.
  • Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Aerospace & Defense market.
  • Current share price is above our estimate of fair value.
  • Shareholders have been diluted in the past year.
Opportunity
  • APOLLO's financial characteristics indicate limited near-term opportunities for shareholders.
  • Lack of analyst coverage makes it difficult to determine APOLLO's earnings prospects.
Threat
  • Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

How Are Returns Trending?

While the current returns on capital are decent, they haven't changed much. Over the past five years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 13% and the business has deployed 52% more capital into its operations. 13% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Apollo Micro Systems has consistently earned this amount. Over long periods of time, returns like these might not be too exciting, but with consistency they can pay off in terms of share price returns.

On a separate but related note, it's important to know that Apollo Micro Systems has a current liabilities to total assets ratio of 40%, which we'd consider pretty high. 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. While it's not necessarily a bad thing, it can be beneficial if this ratio is lower.

In Conclusion...

In the end, Apollo Micro Systems has proven its ability to adequately reinvest capital at good rates of return. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 134% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we still believe the stock deserves further research.

On a final note, we found 2 warning signs for Apollo Micro Systems (1 is concerning) you should be aware of.

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.