Some Investors May Be Worried About iHeartMedia's (NASDAQ:IHRT) Returns On Capital

Ignoring the stock price of a company, what are the underlying trends that tell us a business is past the growth phase? Typically, we'll see the trend of both return on capital employed (ROCE) declining and this usually coincides with a decreasing amount of capital employed. Trends like this ultimately mean the business is reducing its investments and also earning less on what it has invested. And from a first read, things don't look too good at iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT), so let's see why.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on iHeartMedia is:

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

0.028 = US$229m ÷ (US$8.8b - US$782m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2021).

So, iHeartMedia has an ROCE of 2.8%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Media industry average of 8.4%.

See our latest analysis for iHeartMedia

In the above chart we have measured iHeartMedia'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.

So How Is iHeartMedia's ROCE Trending?

In terms of iHeartMedia's historical ROCE trend, it isn't fantastic. The company used to generate 10% on its capital five years ago but it has since fallen noticeably. What's equally concerning is that the amount of capital deployed in the business has shrunk by 29% over that same period. The combination of lower ROCE and less capital employed can indicate that a business is likely to be facing some competitive headwinds or seeing an erosion to its moat. If these underlying trends continue, we wouldn't be too optimistic going forward.

What We Can Learn From iHeartMedia's ROCE

To see iHeartMedia reducing the capital employed in the business in tandem with diminishing returns, is concerning. But investors must be expecting an improvement of sorts because over the last yearthe stock has delivered a respectable 73% return. Regardless, we don't feel too comfortable with the fundamentals so we'd be steering clear of this stock for now.

On a separate note, we've found 1 warning sign for iHeartMedia you'll probably want to know about.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high 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.