We Like These Underlying Return On Capital Trends At Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX)

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. So when we looked at Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Hologic, this is the formula:

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

0.12 = US$958m ÷ (US$9.1b - US$1.2b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Thus, Hologic has an ROCE of 12%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Medical Equipment industry average of 9.3% it's much better.

Check out our latest analysis for Hologic

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Hologic 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 Hologic here for free.

How Are Returns Trending?

The trends we've noticed at Hologic are quite reassuring. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 12%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 36%. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.

Our Take On Hologic's ROCE

To sum it up, Hologic has proven it can reinvest in the business and generate higher returns on that capital employed, which is terrific. And with a respectable 70% awarded to those who held the stock over the last five years, you could argue that these developments are starting to get the attention they deserve. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

One more thing to note, we've identified 3 warning signs with Hologic and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

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.