Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA) Has More To Do To Multiply In Value Going Forward

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. 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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Having said that, from a first glance at Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

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

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 Alibaba Group Holding, this is the formula:

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

0.09 = CN¥126b ÷ (CN¥1.8t - CN¥380b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

Thus, Alibaba Group Holding has an ROCE of 9.0%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 10% average generated by the Multiline Retail industry.

See our latest analysis for Alibaba Group Holding

In the above chart we have measured Alibaba Group Holding'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.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

There are better returns on capital out there than what we're seeing at Alibaba Group Holding. Over the past five years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 9.0% and the business has deployed 121% more capital into its operations. This poor ROCE doesn't inspire confidence right now, and with the increase in capital employed, it's evident that the business isn't deploying the funds into high return investments.

The Bottom Line

Long story short, while Alibaba Group Holding has been reinvesting its capital, the returns that it's generating haven't increased. Since the stock has declined 44% over the last five years, investors may not be too optimistic on this trend improving either. In any case, the stock doesn't have these traits of a multi-bagger discussed above, so if that's what you're looking for, we think you'd have more luck elsewhere.

Alibaba Group Holding does have some risks though, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Alibaba Group Holding that you might be interested in.

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.