Some Investors May Be Worried About SyntheticMR's (NGM:SYNT) Returns On Capital

What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? 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. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. In light of that, when we looked at SyntheticMR (NGM:SYNT) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

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. The formula for this calculation on SyntheticMR is:

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

0.042 = kr4.5m ÷ (kr127m - kr19m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

Therefore, SyntheticMR has an ROCE of 4.2%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Healthcare Services industry average of 8.9%.

View our latest analysis for SyntheticMR

In the above chart we have measured SyntheticMR's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for SyntheticMR.

So How Is SyntheticMR's ROCE Trending?

In terms of SyntheticMR's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 37%, but since then they've fallen to 4.2%. Although, given both revenue and the amount of assets employed in the business have increased, it could suggest the company is investing in growth, and the extra capital has led to a short-term reduction in ROCE. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

The Key Takeaway

Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for SyntheticMR. However, total returns to shareholders over the last five years have been flat, which could indicate these growth trends potentially aren't accounted for yet by investors. So we think it'd be worthwhile to look further into this stock given the trends look encouraging.

One final note, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with SyntheticMR (including 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) .

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.