A Look Into User Local's (TSE:3984) Impressive Returns On Capital

To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. So, when we ran our eye over User Local's (TSE:3984) trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. To calculate this metric for User Local, this is the formula:

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

0.23 = JP¥1.6b ÷ (JP¥7.7b - JP¥832m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

Therefore, User Local has an ROCE of 23%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 16% earned by companies in a similar industry.

Check out our latest analysis for User Local

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for User Local's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of User Local.

What Does the ROCE Trend For User Local Tell Us?

In terms of User Local's history of ROCE, it's quite impressive. The company has employed 188% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 23%. Returns like this are the envy of most businesses and given it has repeatedly reinvested at these rates, that's even better. If these trends can continue, it wouldn't surprise us if the company became a multi-bagger.

The Bottom Line On User Local's ROCE

In summary, we're delighted to see that User Local has been compounding returns by reinvesting at consistently high rates of return, as these are common traits of a multi-bagger. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 111% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

Like most companies, User Local does come with some risks, and we've found 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.

User Local is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.

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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.