Returns Are Gaining Momentum At Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX)

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) so let's look a bit deeper.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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. The formula for this calculation on Cognex is:

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

0.18 = US$328m ÷ (US$2.0b - US$205m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2021).

Thus, Cognex has an ROCE of 18%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Electronic industry average of 9.6% it's much better.

See our latest analysis for Cognex

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Cognex compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

The Trend Of ROCE

The trends we've noticed at Cognex are quite reassuring. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 18%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 103%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Cognex thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

What We Can Learn From Cognex's ROCE

To sum it up, Cognex has proven it can reinvest in the business and generate higher returns on that capital employed, which is terrific. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Cognex can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.

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

While Cognex isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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What are the risks and opportunities for Cognex?

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.
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