Evaluating Carnival Corporation’s (NYSE:CCL) Investments In Its Business

Today we'll look at Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) and reflect on its potential as an investment. In particular, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), as that can give us insight into how profitably the company is able to employ capital in its business.

First, we'll go over how we calculate ROCE. Next, we'll compare it to others in its industry. Finally, we'll look at how its current liabilities affect its ROCE.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. In general, businesses with a higher ROCE are usually better quality. Ultimately, it is a useful but imperfect metric. Renowned investment researcher Michael Mauboussin has suggested that a high ROCE can indicate that 'one dollar invested in the company generates value of more than one dollar'.

So, How Do We Calculate ROCE?

Analysts use this formula to calculate return on capital employed:

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

Or for Carnival:

0.097 = US$3.3b ÷ (US$44b - US$9.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to February 2019.)

Therefore, Carnival has an ROCE of 9.7%.

View our latest analysis for Carnival

Is Carnival's ROCE Good?

One way to assess ROCE is to compare similar companies. Using our data, Carnival's ROCE appears to be around the 10% average of the Hospitality industry. Aside from the industry comparison, Carnival's ROCE is mediocre in absolute terms, considering the risk of investing in stocks versus the safety of a bank account. Readers may find more attractive investment prospects elsewhere.

As we can see, Carnival currently has an ROCE of 9.7% compared to its ROCE 3 years ago, which was 6.5%. This makes us think the business might be improving.

When considering ROCE, bear in mind that it reflects the past and does not necessarily predict the future. Companies in cyclical industries can be difficult to understand using ROCE, as returns typically look high during boom times, and low during busts. ROCE is only a point-in-time measure. Since the future is so important for investors, you should check out our freereport on analyst forecasts for Carnival.

Do Carnival's Current Liabilities Skew Its ROCE?

Liabilities, such as supplier bills and bank overdrafts, are referred to as current liabilities if they need to be paid within 12 months. Due to the way ROCE is calculated, a high level of current liabilities makes a company look as though it has less capital employed, and thus can (sometimes unfairly) boost the ROCE. To counter this, investors can check if a company has high current liabilities relative to total assets.

Carnival has total assets of US$44b and current liabilities of US$9.6b. Therefore its current liabilities are equivalent to approximately 22% of its total assets. This very reasonable level of current liabilities would not boost the ROCE by much.

Our Take On Carnival's ROCE

If Carnival continues to earn an uninspiring ROCE, there may be better places to invest. Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Carnival. So you may wish to see this freecollection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this freelist of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.