Shareholders Would Enjoy A Repeat Of Airbnb's (NASDAQ:ABNB) Recent Growth In Returns

If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing 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. And in light of that, the trends we're seeing at Airbnb's (NASDAQ:ABNB) look very promising so lets take a look.

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. The formula for this calculation on Airbnb is:

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

0.20 = US$1.7b ÷ (US$16b - US$8.0b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).

Therefore, Airbnb has an ROCE of 20%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Hospitality industry average of 11%.

Check out our latest analysis for Airbnb

In the above chart we have measured Airbnb's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Airbnb Tell Us?

We're delighted to see that Airbnb is reaping rewards from its investments and is now generating some pre-tax profits. About three years ago the company was generating losses but things have turned around because it's now earning 20% on its capital. In addition to that, Airbnb is employing 166% more capital than previously which is expected of a company that's trying to break into profitability. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, both common traits of a multi-bagger.

In another part of our analysis, we noticed that the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets decreased to 50%, which broadly means the business is relying less on its suppliers or short-term creditors to fund its operations. So this improvement in ROCE has come from the business' underlying economics, which is great to see. However, current liabilities are still at a pretty high level, so just be aware that this can bring with it some risks.

What We Can Learn From Airbnb's ROCE

To the delight of most shareholders, Airbnb has now broken into profitability. Astute investors may have an opportunity here because the stock has declined 24% in the last year. That being the case, research into the company's current valuation metrics and future prospects seems fitting.

On the other side of ROCE, we have to consider valuation. That's why we have a FREE intrinsic value estimation on our platform that is definitely worth checking out.

If you'd like to see other companies earning high returns, check out our free list of companies earning high returns with solid balance sheets here.

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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.