If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. And in light of that, the trends we're seeing at Applied Materials' (NASDAQ:AMAT) look very promising so lets take a look.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

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. The formula for this calculation on Applied Materials is:

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

0.29 = US$5.7b ÷ (US$24b - US$4.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to May 2021).

Thus, Applied Materials has an ROCE of 29%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Semiconductor industry average of 11%.

Check out our latest analysis for Applied Materials

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Applied Materials 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.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Applied Materials is displaying some positive trends. The data shows that returns on capital have increased substantially over the last five years to 29%. The amount of capital employed has increased too, by 84%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Applied Materials thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

The Bottom Line On Applied Materials' ROCE

A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what Applied Materials has. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

On a separate note, we've found 2 warning signs for Applied Materials you'll probably want to know about.

Applied Materials is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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