We Like These Underlying Return On Capital Trends At Zero One TechnologyLtd (TPE:3029)

April 13, 2021

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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. So on that note, Zero One TechnologyLtd (TPE:3029) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Zero One TechnologyLtd is:

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

0.19 = NT$505m ÷ (NT$5.5b - NT$2.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

So, Zero One TechnologyLtd has an ROCE of 19%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 10% generated by the Electronic industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Zero One TechnologyLtd

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Zero One TechnologyLtd's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you'd like to look at how Zero One TechnologyLtd has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Zero One TechnologyLtd Tell Us?

Zero One TechnologyLtd is displaying some positive trends. The data shows that returns on capital have increased substantially over the last five years to 19%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 38%. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, a combination that's common among multi-baggers.

For the record though, there was a noticeable increase in the company's current liabilities over the period, so we would attribute some of the ROCE growth to that. Effectively this means that suppliers or short-term creditors are now funding 51% of the business, which is more than it was five years ago. Given it's pretty high ratio, we'd remind investors that having current liabilities at those levels can bring about some risks in certain businesses.

The Bottom Line

To sum it up, Zero One TechnologyLtd has proven it can reinvest in the business and generate higher returns on that capital employed, which is terrific. And a remarkable 253% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Zero One TechnologyLtd can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.

Like most companies, Zero One TechnologyLtd does come with some risks, and we've found 1 warning sign that 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. 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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