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There's Been No Shortage Of Growth Recently For Qurate Retail's (NASDAQ:QRTE.A) Returns On Capital

Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. 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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. So on that note, Qurate Retail (NASDAQ:QRTE.A) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

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 Qurate Retail, this is the formula:

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

0.11 = US$1.3b ÷ (US$16b - US$4.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).

Thus, Qurate Retail has an ROCE of 11%. That's a pretty standard return and it's in line with the industry average of 11%.

Check out our latest analysis for Qurate Retail

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In the above chart we have measured Qurate Retail's 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 Qurate Retail here for free.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Qurate Retail Tell Us?

You'd find it hard not to be impressed with the ROCE trend at Qurate Retail. The figures show that over the last five years, returns on capital have grown by 107%. That's a very favorable trend because this means that the company is earning more per dollar of capital that's being employed. Interestingly, the business may be becoming more efficient because it's applying 37% less capital than it was five years ago. A business that's shrinking its asset base like this isn't usually typical of a soon to be multi-bagger company.

For the record though, there was a noticeable increase in the company's current liabilities over the period, so we would attribute some of the ROCE growth to that. Essentially the business now has suppliers or short-term creditors funding about 27% of its operations, which isn't ideal. It's worth keeping an eye on this because as the percentage of current liabilities to total assets increases, some aspects of risk also increase.

In Conclusion...

From what we've seen above, Qurate Retail has managed to increase it's returns on capital all the while reducing it's capital base. Astute investors may have an opportunity here because the stock has declined 39% in the last three years. So researching this company further and determining whether or not these trends will continue seems justified.

One more thing: We've identified 4 warning signs with Qurate Retail (at least 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) , and understanding these would certainly be useful.

While Qurate Retail may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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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