VOXX International (NASDAQ:VOXX) Shareholders Will Want The ROCE Trajectory To Continue

What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? 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. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. So on that note, VOXX International (NASDAQ:VOXX) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

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

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 VOXX International is:

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

0.037 = US$15m ÷ (US$568m - US$171m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to November 2020).

So, VOXX International has an ROCE of 3.7%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Consumer Durables industry average of 13%.

View our latest analysis for VOXX International

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you'd like to look at how VOXX International 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 VOXX International Tell Us?

Even though ROCE is still low in absolute terms, it's good to see it's heading in the right direction. The figures show that over the last five years, ROCE has grown 466% whilst employing roughly the same amount of capital. Basically the business is generating higher returns from the same amount of capital and that is proof that there are improvements in the company's efficiencies. It's worth looking deeper into this though because while it's great that the business is more efficient, it might also mean that going forward the areas to invest internally for the organic growth are lacking.

In Conclusion...

In summary, we're delighted to see that VOXX International has been able to increase efficiencies and earn higher rates of return on the same amount of capital. Since the stock has returned a staggering 327% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.

If you want to know some of the risks facing VOXX International we've found 2 warning signs (1 is concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

While VOXX International isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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