Charles & Colvard (NASDAQ:CTHR) Shareholders Will Want The ROCE Trajectory To Continue

If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? 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. 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 when we looked at Charles & Colvard (NASDAQ:CTHR) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Charles & Colvard, this is the formula:

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

0.073 = US$3.8m ÷ (US$57m - US$6.1m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2021).

Therefore, Charles & Colvard has an ROCE of 7.3%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Luxury industry average of 12%.

Check out our latest analysis for Charles & Colvard

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Charles & Colvard compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Charles & Colvard.

The Trend Of ROCE

We're delighted to see that Charles & Colvard is reaping rewards from its investments and is now generating some pre-tax profits. Shareholders would no doubt be pleased with this because the business was loss-making five years ago but is is now generating 7.3% on its capital. Not only that, but the company is utilizing 33% more capital than before, but that's to be expected from a company trying to break into profitability. This can tell us that the company has plenty of reinvestment opportunities that are able to generate higher returns.

Our Take On Charles & Colvard's ROCE

Long story short, we're delighted to see that Charles & Colvard's reinvestment activities have paid off and the company is now profitable. Since the stock has returned a staggering 129% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

One more thing to note, we've identified 2 warning signs with Charles & Colvard and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.
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