Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Has Some Way To Go To Become A Multi-Bagger

If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. 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. That's why when we briefly looked at Amazon.com's (NASDAQ:AMZN) ROCE trend, we were pretty happy with what we saw.

Understanding 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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Amazon.com:

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

0.11 = US$28b ÷ (US$382b - US$124b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2021).

Therefore, Amazon.com has an ROCE of 11%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 12% generated by the Online Retail industry.

View our latest analysis for Amazon.com

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Amazon.com compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Amazon.com.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Amazon.com Tell Us?

The trend of ROCE doesn't stand out much, but returns on a whole are decent. The company has employed 591% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 11%. Since 11% is a moderate ROCE though, it's good to see a business can continue to reinvest at these decent rates of return. Over long periods of time, returns like these might not be too exciting, but with consistency they can pay off in terms of share price returns.

On a side note, Amazon.com has done well to reduce current liabilities to 32% of total assets over the last five years. Effectively suppliers now fund less of the business, which can lower some elements of risk.

Our Take On Amazon.com's ROCE

In the end, Amazon.com has proven its ability to adequately reinvest capital at good rates of return. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 338% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

One more thing: We've identified 2 warning signs with Amazon.com (at least 1 which can't be ignored) , and understanding them would certainly be useful.

While Amazon.com may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.