There Are Reasons To Feel Uneasy About Cracker Barrel Old Country Store's (NASDAQ:CBRL) Returns On Capital

If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base 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. Having said that, from a first glance at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ:CBRL) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store:

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

0.066 = US$114m ÷ (US$2.2b - US$459m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to January 2024).

Therefore, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has an ROCE of 6.6%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Hospitality industry average of 9.5%.

See our latest analysis for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Cracker Barrel Old Country Store for free.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store doesn't inspire confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 24%, but since then they've fallen to 6.6%. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

Our Take On Cracker Barrel Old Country Store's ROCE

In summary, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is reinvesting funds back into the business for growth but unfortunately it looks like sales haven't increased much just yet. Since the stock has declined 43% over the last five years, investors may not be too optimistic on this trend improving either. On the whole, we aren't too inspired by the underlying trends and we think there may be better chances of finding a multi-bagger elsewhere.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store does come with some risks though, we found 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those shouldn't be ignored...

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.