Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? 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. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in trivago's (NASDAQ:TRVG) returns on capital, so let's have a look.
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. The formula for this calculation on trivago is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.092 = €60m ÷ (€712m - €62m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).
Therefore, trivago has an ROCE of 9.2%. On its own that's a low return, but compared to the average of 5.2% generated by the Interactive Media and Services industry, it's much better.
Above you can see how the current ROCE for trivago compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for trivago.
How Are Returns Trending? trivago has not disappointed in regards to ROCE growth. The figures show that over the last five years, returns on capital have grown by 8,121%. The company is now earning €0.09 per dollar of capital employed. Speaking of capital employed, the company is actually utilizing 35% less than it was five years ago, which can be indicative of a business that's improving its efficiency. If this trend continues, the business might be getting more efficient but it's shrinking in terms of total assets.
The Bottom Line In summary, it's great to see that trivago has been able to turn things around and earn higher returns on lower amounts of capital. However the stock is down a substantial 82% in the last five years so there could be other areas of the business hurting its prospects. In any case, we believe the economic trends of this company are positive and looking into the stock further could prove rewarding.