The Returns At Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) Aren't Growing

What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? 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. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. So while Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) has a high ROCE right now, lets see what we can decipher from how returns are changing.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Check Point Software Technologies, this is the formula:

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

0.22 = US$913m ÷ (US$5.7b - US$1.5b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2021).

Therefore, Check Point Software Technologies has an ROCE of 22%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 11% earned by companies in a similar industry.

See our latest analysis for Check Point Software Technologies

In the above chart we have measured Check Point Software Technologies' 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 Check Point Software Technologies.

So How Is Check Point Software Technologies' ROCE Trending?

Things have been pretty stable at Check Point Software Technologies, with its capital employed and returns on that capital staying somewhat the same for the last five years. This tells us the company isn't reinvesting in itself, so it's plausible that it's past the growth phase. So it may not be a multi-bagger in the making, but given the decent 22% return on capital, it'd be difficult to find fault with the business's current operations.

The Bottom Line

Although is allocating it's capital efficiently to generate impressive returns, it isn't compounding its base of capital, which is what we'd see from a multi-bagger. Unsurprisingly, the stock has only gained 26% over the last five years, which potentially indicates that investors are accounting for this going forward. So if you're looking for a multi-bagger, the underlying trends indicate you may have better chances elsewhere.

Check Point Software Technologies could be trading at an attractive price in other respects, so you might find our free intrinsic value estimation on our platform quite valuable.

High returns are a key ingredient to strong performance, so check out our free list ofstocks earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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.