Here's What NIKE's (NYSE:NKE) Strong Returns On Capital Mean

If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. So, when we ran our eye over NIKE's (NYSE:NKE) trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

Understanding 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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for NIKE:

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

0.24 = US$7.3b ÷ (US$39b - US$8.9b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to November 2021).

Thus, NIKE has an ROCE of 24%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Luxury industry average of 15%.

View our latest analysis for NIKE

In the above chart we have measured NIKE'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 NIKE.

So How Is NIKE's ROCE Trending?

NIKE deserves to be commended in regards to it's returns. The company has consistently earned 24% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 72% in that time. Now considering ROCE is an attractive 24%, this combination is actually pretty appealing because it means the business can consistently put money to work and generate these high returns. You'll see this when looking at well operated businesses or favorable business models.

In Conclusion...

In summary, we're delighted to see that NIKE has been compounding returns by reinvesting at consistently high rates of return, as these are common traits of a multi-bagger. And long term investors would be thrilled with the 117% return they've received over the last five years. So even though the stock might be more "expensive" than it was before, we think the strong fundamentals warrant this stock for further research.

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

High returns are a key ingredient to strong performance, so check out our free list ofstocks earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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.