We Like These Underlying Return On Capital Trends At Qurate Retail (NASDAQ:QRTE.A)

What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? 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. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Qurate Retail's (NASDAQ:QRTE.A) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Qurate Retail:

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

0.11 = US$1.3b ÷ (US$16b - US$4.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).

Therefore, Qurate Retail has an ROCE of 11%. In absolute terms, that's a pretty normal return, and it's somewhat close to the Online Retail industry average of 12%.

See our latest analysis for Qurate Retail

In the above chart we have measured Qurate Retail's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Qurate Retail.

So How Is Qurate Retail's ROCE Trending?

Qurate Retail has not disappointed in regards to ROCE growth. The figures show that over the last five years, returns on capital have grown by 107%. That's a very favorable trend because this means that the company is earning more per dollar of capital that's being employed. Interestingly, the business may be becoming more efficient because it's applying 37% less capital than it was five years ago. A business that's shrinking its asset base like this isn't usually typical of a soon to be multi-bagger company.

For the record though, there was a noticeable increase in the company's current liabilities over the period, so we would attribute some of the ROCE growth to that. Essentially the business now has suppliers or short-term creditors funding about 27% of its operations, which isn't ideal. It's worth keeping an eye on this because as the percentage of current liabilities to total assets increases, some aspects of risk also increase.

What We Can Learn From Qurate Retail's ROCE

In the end, Qurate Retail has proven it's capital allocation skills are good with those higher returns from less amount of capital. Astute investors may have an opportunity here because the stock has declined 33% in the last three years. That being the case, research into the company's current valuation metrics and future prospects seems fitting.

Qurate Retail does come with some risks though, we found 4 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

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.