Why The 22% Return On Capital At Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA) Should Have Your Attention

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. With that in mind, the ROCE of Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA) looks great, so lets see what the trend can tell us.

Understanding 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. The formula for this calculation on Zebra Technologies is:

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

0.22 = US$954m ÷ (US$6.1b - US$1.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to April 2022).

Therefore, Zebra Technologies has an ROCE of 22%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Electronic industry average of 11%.

View our latest analysis for Zebra Technologies

In the above chart we have measured Zebra Technologies' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Zebra Technologies here for free.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Zebra Technologies Tell Us?

We like the trends that we're seeing from Zebra Technologies. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 22%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 20% more capital is being employed now too. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, a combination that's common among multi-baggers.

The Bottom Line On Zebra Technologies' ROCE

All in all, it's terrific to see that Zebra Technologies is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing Zebra Technologies, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.

If you'd like to see other companies earning high returns, check out our free list of companies earning high returns with solid balance sheets here.

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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.