Insulet (NASDAQ:PODD) Is Doing The Right Things To Multiply Its Share Price

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. So when we looked at Insulet (NASDAQ:PODD) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

What Is 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. To calculate this metric for Insulet, this is the formula:

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

0.043 = US$88m ÷ (US$2.5b - US$451m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Thus, Insulet has an ROCE of 4.3%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Medical Equipment industry average of 9.7%.

View our latest analysis for Insulet

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Insulet compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Even though ROCE is still low in absolute terms, it's good to see it's heading in the right direction. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 4.3%. 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 156%. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.

Our Take On Insulet's ROCE

All in all, it's terrific to see that Insulet is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. And a remarkable 112% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.

On a final note, we found 2 warning signs for Insulet (1 is a bit concerning) you should be aware of.

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.