Here's What's Concerning About Netweb Technologies India's (NSE:NETWEB) Returns On Capital

To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Looking at Netweb Technologies India (NSE:NETWEB), it does have a high ROCE right now, but lets see how returns are trending.

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Netweb Technologies India:

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

0.25 = ₹1.1b ÷ (₹6.1b - ₹1.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

So, Netweb Technologies India has an ROCE of 25%. On its own that's a fantastic return on capital, though it's the same as the Tech industry average of 25%.

See our latest analysis for Netweb Technologies India

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Netweb Technologies India compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free analyst report for Netweb Technologies India .

What Does the ROCE Trend For Netweb Technologies India Tell Us?

In terms of Netweb Technologies India's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, while the ROCE is still high, it's fallen from 32% where it was five years ago. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

On a related note, Netweb Technologies India has decreased its current liabilities to 29% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it's own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE.

The Bottom Line On Netweb Technologies India's ROCE

Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for Netweb Technologies India. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 204% return over the last year, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So should these growth trends continue, we'd be optimistic on the stock going forward.

If you're still interested in Netweb Technologies India it's worth checking out our FREE intrinsic value approximation for NETWEB to see if it's trading at an attractive price in other respects.

If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning high returns on equity.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.